The Portuguese Water Blog

Tsar's Treatment Begins

2012-02-18T14:17:00.001-05:00

Hi Everybody.
I'm trying to respond to everyone who has emailed us about Tsar, but it may take some time to get to everyone. We've gotten lots of messages and I've been spending most of my time with him, so I know you'll all understand. He's my top priority just now. I do want to keep you up to date on his condition, so here's what's happening.

Thursday was not a good day. He ate a little chicken in the morning, but it was clear that he was getting sicker and weaker as the day went on. On Friday he refused to eat at all and couldn't stand up without help. He barely lifted his head and his eyes were obviously not focusing. When he did manage to get up, he was wobbly and lost his balance easily. By mid day he had developed diarrhia and had a couple accidents in the house. He was very upset about that. Tsar being part cat likes to be clean and never messes in the house. We were at the point where I would ordinarily have him put down, but I wanted to give him a chance with the steroids, so we waited. I did call the vet and ask if I could start him on the steroids a day early, but he advised me to wait till today.

This morning Rob took him out at 7AM and as soon as they came in I gave him his first prednisone tablet, 20 mg. At 9AM I offered him some chicken and he ate a whole breast. Rob and I had to go out (to buy more chicken) and when we came back about noon, Tsar met us at the door. He was standing and holding his head normally. Rob offered him some chicken and he ate another whole breast. Then he accepted and ate a dog biscuit. He's still wobbly, partly because it's been so long since he's eaten normally, but he's moving around and his eyes look much more clear.

I called the vet to be sure I'm not just seeing what I want to see and he assured me that it can work that fast. We discussed the fact that if it's a tumor in the brain, we'll see temporary improvement, then he'll crash again, but if it's something else, it can respond well to the prednisone. He was pleased with the progress.

Tsar will get another 20mg tablet this evening and we'll continue to encourage him to eat. For now things are better, but we're not out of the woods. Thanks to all of you for your encouragement and caring. You can't begin to know how much it means to us.

A Belated Birthday

2012-02-16T15:24:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, Valentine's Day was Fudge's 7th birthday. Because of Tsar's illness, the birthday party was postponed and today after dinner, they'll each get a cupcake. To make it up to Fudge, I have a little song for him. My apologies in advance to Johnny Mercer who wrote the original version.

You must have been a beautiful baby,

You must have been a wonderful pup.

When you were only startin in puppy kindergarten

You must have made the girl dogs look up.

And when it came to winning blue ribbons

You must have shown the other dogs how.

I can see the judges eyes as he handed you the prize,

Your high jump made him laugh and say "Wow!".

Oh, you must have been a beautiful puppy,

Cause, Fudgie, look at you now.

We love you Fudge. Happy Birthday!

Tsar Update

2012-02-15T14:05:00.000-05:00

The vet called this morning and the news wasn't what we wanted to hear. We were hoping the lab results would indicate an infection that could be treated with antibiotics, but the blood work was normal, no infection.

We're left with more questions than answers. There's something wrong in Tsar's brain and we don't know what or why. I was given the option of taking him to the university for an MRI and spinal tap among other tests, but I declined. Tsar is ten years old now and he has always hated to be fussed over or to have his personal space invaded. I know he would hate these tests and as his advocate, I have to do what's best for him. In this case it means proceeding blind and hoping to keep him comfortable and happy for his remaining time.

We've taken him off all meds including his pain meds for arthritis and he's starting to feel it. He wants no one but me near him, so that's how it'll be for now. On Saturday when his system is clear of all medications, we'll start him on steroids to try to fight whatever is affecting his brain. We don't know what the possibilities of success may be, but that's our plan for now.

After not eating for almost a week, he couldn't resist a baked chicken breast last night as long as I hand fed him bite size pieces. He ate it all plus part of mine. This morning he had a little yogurt and another chicken breast. Once he gets started on steroids his appetite should pick up.

Tsar is in trouble and this is a stop gap solution to buy him some time. Rob and I thank you for all your good wishes for him and hope you'll keep him in your thoughts.

A Thought For Tsar

2012-02-14T11:43:00.000-05:00

Hi Everybody,
We hope you're all enjoying your Valentine's Day. There's a lot going on with Valentines Day, Mango Minster underway, a big Valentine dance in Blogville, Westminster and of course our very own Fudge's birthday. It's a busy day for everybody. But if you could spare a minute today to send a good thought to Tsar, he can really use your help.

We took Tsar to the vet this morning because he hasn't been acting quite right. I was hoping Dr B would tell me it was a relapse of his back injury and to up his meds, but the knot in my stomach warned me that it wouldn't be that simple. Dr B checked him out and says that the problem is neurological, possibly an infection or inflammation in the brain or brain stem, or possibly a stroke. He took blood and tomorrow when the report comes back we'll have a better idea how to proceed.

It's a bad time for Tsar the cat-dog, and he needs the power of the paw.

A Message To Our Friends

2012-02-14T00:04:00.000-05:00

Our bloggy friends are the best.

We 'd like to be your Valentines.

Morgan
Tsar
Samba
Fudge
Tess
Sky
Lola
Bailey
Noah
Norma Jean

Valentine's Eve

2012-02-13T16:13:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, so today I've been busy. We woke up to snow on the ground and it's still coming down, so we have some very happy dogs. They were so busy chasing each other thru the snow this morning, they almost missed breakfast. Tomorrow is Fudge's birthday, so we're having a party and I think I'm ready for that.

Today I've been making goodies for my valentine, aware of the big box from Amazon beside his desk. What could that be? First I made a big pot of chili. What's better on a cold winter day?

Next I decide to try something I'd seen on another blog. I started with cupcake mix. Did you know they sell cupcake mix? I thought you just used regular cake mix. I wonder what the difference is.

Following the instructions on the package I mixed the batter, then filled each paper cup 1/3 full.

Next I put a section of a Caramello bar in each cup. Then more batter till the cups are 2/3 full.

Bake.

Cool and frost.

These are really good with gooey caramel inside each cupcake. Yum!!

MangoMinster

2012-02-11T21:52:00.000-05:00

Hi Everybody, this is Fudge.

As everybody in the whole world knows, the fourth annual Mango Minster starts this weekend. I, Fudge, am a past winner at Mango Minster. I was the voters choice winner in the bad sport category last year, so I know what an honor it is. I thought I should run again this year, but Mom said "No Fudge, it's time to give your kids a turn". I don't completely agree with her, but she's the one who can type.

My puny little son Noah is entered in the 'Too Darn Cute' category. Yuk!! Anyway, voting for his group starts on February 12 (that's tomorrow) at 1:00 PM EST and continues till 5:00 PM the next day. That gives your peeps lots of time to figure out how to vote. The instructions are on the MangoMinster site

Yeah, he's grown up now, but Mom says he's still cute.

On February 13 at 1:00 PM EST, my daughter Bailey is competing in the 'Adventure Animal' category. Boy, she sure is an adventure animal. That girl is nuts! She must take after her mother's side of the family. She climbs and digs and races and hunts. Slow down, girl!

She was born to get in trouble.

Be sure to keep checking back and vote in all the categories and also for Best In Show. There are some neat prizes for the winners.

Mom made me do this.

Catch Up Day

2012-02-10T16:08:00.000-05:00

I keep notes stuck here and there of things I mean to post about and every now and then I need a catch up day to let you all know about them. This is one of those posts full of things that don't go together, but are interesting.

First on the list is a new blog called Our Rainbow Friends. This, as you may have guessed, is a place to honor our bloggy friends who cross the bridge each month. It'll be a permanent archive where you can read about them. Be sure to tell your friends and they also have a pretty badge that you can download to your sidebar to remind you. Our friends Jed and Abby are in charge of the site and we think they'll do a great job.

Next up is a giveaway. Who doesn't like a giveaway? This is for a sweet little plush donkey.

Our little friend Freya is learning all about donkeys, so to celebrate she's giving this fellow away. Hurry over to her Mom's site here and leave a comment. The last day to comment is February 14, so hurry.

Mango Minster starts on Sunday.

We have contestants in two categories. Noah is in the Cutest category and voting starts on Sunday afternoon. Noah would appreciate your vote.

Bailey is in the Adventure Dog category and voting for that starts on Monday afternoon. She would also be most pleased if your would support her with a vote.

Finally, on a very sad note, we just received an email from our dog training club that a lovely woman has died. She was our first instructor when Samba and Tsar took classes and she was so supportive that they both did well. Over the years she has remained a dear friend and always encouraged us with each of our students. We will miss her a lot. Here she is with her two dogs Milo and Mona.

I'm sure I've forgotten something, but it'll have to wait for next catch up day.

I'm Not A Morning Person

2012-02-09T17:02:00.000-05:00

I am NOT a morning person. It bears repeating!!! Rob wakes up disgustingly cheerful in the morning and is ready to do active sorts of things. I am not a morning person. I never have been.

Early in our relationship he learned not to try to engage me in conversation before my second cup of coffee. When I have that second steaming mug firmly in hand, my mind starts warming up.

Once Samba's kidney infection was cured I assumed she and I would both sleep thru the night and wake refreshed in the morning. Wrong!! Samba has turned into a star gazer. Now she wakes me once or twice a night to go stand on the porch in my robe and bare feet to observe the beauty of the night sky. I'll admit we've made some neat observations like a lunar eclipse, some meteor showers and the discovery of a bright blue star, but perhaps we could make these trips once or twice a month and not every night.

This morning Samba decided at 2:16 that we should go look at the sky. I look at the sky, she seems to prefer to sniff the grass. About four minutes later I crawled back into bed.

It seemed like I'd just shut my eyes when I heard Tess calling me. A glance at the clock told me it was 6:30. I staggered downstairs, let the girls out for a quick pee, gave them each a cookie and again went back to bed. Then at 8 they were all at the side of the bed staring at me. I could feel their stare, so I got up, threw on some clothes and went to feed them.

After they ate, I let them outside to run while I checked on Morgan and Tsar who eat upstairs. Everything was under control there, so I went back down to let the others in. All came in except Lola and Tess. I called, but they didn't come. I walked out into the yard and Lola was standing there watching Tess roll. Tess looked up, saw me and they both came running. As they walked past me into the garage I smelled something horrible. I checked their back ends, ( those of you with long haired dogs will know what I'm talking about) but didn't find anything. I put all the others in and kept Lola and Tess in the garage. Then I called Rob for help. We separated the two to see who was the offender. It was Tess. Rob walked around the yard to see if he could find what she'd rolled in. Remember, we get night visitors, but he didn't find anything.

So, before I'd had even one sip of coffee, we were busy washing Tess. We soaped her a couple times and trimmed away straggly hair from her legs and tail area. Then I rubbed her with a towel and we put her in her crate to dry. Then we did a load of dog blankets and towels in the washer.

I finally got my coffee, but my mood was not good as the telemarketer that called here at 9:15 this morning will confirm. If my husband could learn not to rile me before coffee, why can't these dogs learn?

Late Bloomer

2012-02-08T11:25:00.000-05:00

Portuguese Water Dogs are well know for their counter surfing. It seems to be a trait passed down from parents to their offspring over the centuries. Most breeders warn new puppy owners to watch for the habit showing up early and do your best to control it.

In our household Samba and Fudge both had the gene for counter surfing. Fudge stopped after an incident involving a ceramic vase that was drying on the counter. When he pulled the towel it was lying on and it smashed into a hundred pieces, he gave up the habit. Good boy!

Samba, on the other hand is a very accomplished surfer. She learned early that if something tasty was too far back on the counter to reach, she could push a chair over and make it easier to grab a taste. She taught her pups that food left on the counter was 'in play'. The trick to successful counter surfing is to leave the box or plate untouched, just grab the food.

Then there are the pups. Norma Jean checks the counters several times a day just in case something was forgotten. I don't think she's had any major scores.

Bailey checks the counters every few minutes. She has a regular routine of circling the kitchen and eyeing the counters. I seldom let Bailey out of my sight and have managed to limit her surfing successes.

At Thanksgiving Noah grabbed a whole piece of lasagna off Rob's plate right in front of him. Rob and I were both standing less than three feet away from the plate when Noah did a 'fly-by' and disappeared with his prize. I wish I'd gotten a picture of Rob's face.

Samba has been our most successful surfer. She managed to score an entire roast turkey fresh from the oven. She reached up, grabbed the bird and was heading out of the room. I grabbed the bird back and with some minor repairs, served it for dinner.

Then there is Sky.

Sky has always been a good boy. Except for some barking issues, Sky has never been in trouble. He never tried to get on the furniture till a couple years ago, he never stole or chewed on shoes or remotes or other items. He seemed to have an innate sense of boundaries. He never counter surfed.....until last night..

Rob and I were watching the news about 10:30 last night when we heard a noise in the kitchen. I had started the dishwasher a little bit earlier and I thought it sounded like two dog dishes clicking against each other, but I went to check. Imagine my surprise when I found Sky standing up at the counter scarfing down frosted sugar cookies. Rob had moved the package earlier when he wiped down the counter and he forgot to push it back against the wall. Apparently Sky had noticed this.

It looks like Sky managed to eat between eleven and fifteen cookies plus the two in the photo with bites taken. I caught him in the act, but I would have figured it out because he had pink frosting all over his face.

I carried a roll of paper towels to bed last night expecting to have a sick dog during the night, but Sky slept peacefully with a smile on his face. Dreaming, no doubt, of frosted sugar cookies.

Super Bowl

2012-02-05T12:54:00.000-05:00

We like to play football.

But last night we overheard Mom and Dad talking about the Super Bowl. That got us all excited because we know all about the Super Bowl. It's one of our very favorite things in the whole world.

Here is comes, the Super Bowl.

We wonder what special treats are in it this time.

In the summer we get watermelon in the Super Bowl, but this time we know Mom bought some Pupcorn.

Tsar prefers his less than Super Bowl.

We hope your family enjoys a Super Bowl Sunday as much as we are. Mom and Dad don't care much for football so we're all watching a movie tonight.

We hope there's a dog in it.

We Won't Go Back

2012-02-02T14:52:00.073-05:00

I try to stay away from certain subjects on this blog. I avoid religion and politics as much as possible, BUT yesterday was my birthday and there's something I need to say. I'm probably older than most of my readers and I know you won't all agree with me, but please bear with me this time. There is much at stake.

I've been involved with the Women's Rights Movement for a long time. My involvement has been in four areas, education and employment, social and reproductive rights. Many of you are too young to realize how recently things have changed. My grandmother didn't have the right to vote. Once women attained the right, she never let us forget how important it was to exercise that right. We received a phone call every election day to remind us to vote. I've never missed an election.

I had always planned to become a veterinarian. I had the grades and was accepted at the school of my choice, but there was a quota on the number of women accepted into the veterinary school and I was placed on a waiting list. The work was considered too physical for women. I chose not to wait and left school to enter the business world.

In the 1960s and 70s classified ads in newspapers were divided into male only and female only jobs. The main jobs for women were teaching, nursing and clerical. The employer decided if he wanted to hire a woman. Job applications asked if a woman was married or planning to marry, if they had children or were planning to have children. If an applicant said she planned to have children, she was asked when, how many and what plans she had for child care. Men were not asked these question. I remember a job application for a bank that I applied to in South Carolina that had a whole section of questions on my menstrual cycle.

Women were expected to wear skirts to work, regardless of the job or weather. Pants were not allowed and a woman would be sent home to change if she appeared in pants. Women were paid less than men for exactly the same work. Men were assumed to be supporting families and even if a woman was a single mother due to death or divorce, she was paid less. There was no mandated maternity leave. If a married woman became pregnant and left to have her baby, she was replaced. A single woman who became pregnant could be fired simply for being pregnant.

I worked as a bank auditor in Central New York and was taking notice of the women's groups that were forming and legislation that was being discussed. Although the Feminists made news by symbolically burning bras, they proposed a day for women to stay home from work demanding the right to wear pants to work. Along with a group of the younger female bank employees, I stayed home and the bank agreed to our terms, to a point. We were allowed to wear pantsuits, trousers with matching jackets. The bank also reviewed salaries and brought women's wages up to match those of men doing the same jobs.

Along with some friends I attended some rallies and heard speakers such as Gloria Steinam and Bella Abzug speak It was a heady time. In Syracuse where I lived, there were two restaurants with cocktail lounges that allowed no women unless they were escorted by men. These were not private clubs, but public facilities closed to women. We picketed these facilities and managed to get television news and local newspapers to cover our complaints and eventually both restaurants opened their doors to women. I remember the first day they did so, a girlfriend and I ate lunch at one of them and toasted our success.

Women who married were expected to take their husband's surname and were referred to as Mrs. Whatever. In my genealogical research an obituary from the 1970s would read John Smith was survived by his brother William Smith and his sisters Mrs. James Jones and Mrs. george Brown. A married woman was stripped of her own identity and became an appendage of her husband. As you know I chose to keep my name when I married and add my husband's name after a hyphen. In the 1970s I would not have been able to do that.

The subject that pulled me deeply into the Women's Movement was, of course, the right to make decisions about my own body. At that time there was no date rape or spousal rape on the books. A married woman was under her husband's control. He decided if and when she would have children, if and where she would work outside the home. A single woman who found herself pregnant thru rape or birth control failure had the choice of having the child or risking her life in a back alley with someone who might or might not be a medical professional, or risking her life by self aborting.

I volunteered at Planned Parenthood, organized rallies and talked to everyone, especially the men in my life. We needed them to understand what was at stake and join us in trying to make changes. Things did change slowly and we acknowledged every small change and celebrated the big ones. I even was able to file charges against an employer who discriminated on the basis of sex and won my case.

A lot of good women suffered and yes, died because change didn't come in time for them. Today I see young women taking many of the rights they have for granted and I see opponents chipping away at them. I fear that the hard won victories will be lost and society will return to times when women are not valued as individuals and their choices will be restricted. We need to pass our history on to generations coming after us and they need to stay on guard against those who would rescind our rights as women.

Thanks for hearing me out.

Fudge's Progress

2012-01-31T14:54:00.000-05:00

Last week we told you about Fudge's visit to the dentist and how we have to work harder to keep his smile pretty. We're working on it. Saturday morning I didn't brush my teeth when I first got up. I fed the dogs and got them settled, then I called Fudge into the bathroom with me. I showed him my toothbrush and let him sniff it. Then I brushed my teeth while he watched.

Next I showed him his little toothbrush and I gave him a treat. Then I put toothpaste on his brush. He laid down on the floor and I sat on a little stool and we brushed his teeth. We made it fast, then he got another treat.

The next day we repeated the whole procedure.

On Monday morning he ran in and sat next to me while I brushed my teeth. Then we did his. Today I brushed mine first thing. After breakfast Fudge and I went to the bathroom to brush his. He was very good and we took a lot more time and did a really good job. Then he got his treat and ran downstairs to show Rob his pretty teeth.

He thinks this is a special together time when he gets lots of attention and a couple treats. I don't think he's crazy about the actual brushing, but he so enjoys the rest that he's being very good. Now I need to start this whole process with Sky.

The Blue Star

2012-01-30T14:22:00.001-05:00

About a week ago when Samba and I were out late at night, she went sniffing around the yard and I looked up at the clear night sky. There just to the southeast of us was a bright blue star. It was beautiful and I watched it for a long time. The next night I looked up and there it was again shining with a bright blue glow. I didn't trust my eyes, so I went in and told Rob about it and asked him to come take a look. He confirmed that it was indeed blue.

I check for that star every evening now and when I heard yesterday that our friend Maggie had crossed the rainbow bridge, I knew that the blue star was there to guide her safely.

Now whenever I look up at our star, I smile because I see Maggie watching over us.

My New Year's Resolution

2012-01-27T18:56:00.000-05:00

Today we had a visit to All Creatures, our animal clinic. Fudge had the stitches out of his head and his side. Both areas had healed well and his hair grows so fast that we had trouble finding the stitches.

Dr B has a couple of specialties. One is geriatric medicine, which comes in very handy with my aging pack, especially Morgan. The other is dentistry. His interest in dentistry is a mixed blessing for me. I'm often made to feel uncomfortable when shown a nasty tooth that needs more care. You see, I'm not very good about brushing my dogs' teeth. Every now and then I go on a binge and brush them all for a couple days till I get tired of wrestling with them, then I just let them go.

When Fudge had his surgery last week, he also had a dental cleaning. He has some problem areas and today I was handed a chart, instructions and a demonstration of how to apply fluoride to the chipped and broken teeth.

Fudge broke most of his front teeth in a collision with a table and though the pulp isn't exposed, they could be a bit sensitive. The weekly fluoride treatment will help protect him from pain.

So, my only New Year's resolution is to be better about taking care of doggie teeth. Fudge's little toothbrush and his vanilla almond toothpaste now reside in the bathroom with my brush and paste. When I brush my teeth each morning, Fudge will get his brushed, too.

We're determined that his next check up will be a good one. He'll keep his pretty smile and I won't feel guilty.

Cookies

2012-01-26T15:02:00.000-05:00

Yesterday it rained all day, so we were stuck in the house. What's Noah waiting for?

It's probably the same thing Sky is waiting for.

I baked cookies from this book.

I made sugar cookies.

Unfortunately, these were cookies meant for humans, not dogs.

I had to put them in bags and put them up high to keep them out of the paws of Samba and Noah, my worst counter surfers.

Does anyone know how to make black icing?

Morgan's Safe Spot

2012-01-23T15:06:00.000-05:00

Morgan suffers from an anxiety disorder that causes her to act out. She jumps up on counters and into sinks. She turns the water on full blast and she knocks things off tables and desks. She races uncontrollably from room to room trying to find a safe place to escape from the demons in her head.

For about five years now, we've been treating her with anti-anxiety drugs. It took us a while to find the right combination that worked for her, but now she takes a mixture of Clomicalm and Valium daily and is doing well.

Still there are certain times when outside forces cause problems for her, such as thunderstorms. Sometimes she squeezes behind furniture and has gotten stuck so that we have to move the furniture to get her out. Sometimes she tries to climb to the highest spot in the room, knocking things over and creating chaos.

The vet recommended finding her a safe spot to wait out the storm. We tried a crate, but that panicked her even more. We tried a box for her to curl up in with lots of blankets, but she tried climbing on top of it and fell off. We couldn't think of the right place to make her feel secure, but this weekend she found one. We had very noisy, strong winds last night and they were loud enough to wake me several times, but Morgan was fine in her new safe spot.

There's a corner in the living room where we pile the dog toys. They have access to them when they want to play, but they aren't strewn all over the house. I lost track of Morgan and went looking for her and this is where I found her. She was snoozing safe and comfortably with her fuzzy friends. She feels safe there and I know she isn't getting into a dangerous situation.

Morgan's is an extreme case, but but lots of dogs have noise phobias and we'd love to hear how you handle them with your dogs.

A Tale Of Two Days -Day 2

2012-01-20T07:00:00.002-05:00

Hi again everybody. Now you're about to see how fast things can change. Today is Cheese Day. I hope you're all enjoying some of that most delicious food. But tomorrow is a day that we don't think deserves to be recognized. January 21st is Squirrel Appreciation Day. What!!! Who thought that up? Whoever came up with that day has one sick mind!

Squirrels come in a lot of flavors. Some are red, some are black and near here they have some white ones, but here at our house we have two flavors, gray....

and this mixed up red and gray one called a Fox-Squirrel. Don't try to confuse us, we know that's a squirrel in fox clothing.

Squirrels are mean creatures that like to torment dogs, and cats too, I think. They sit on the window ledge or the top of the fence or on low branches of the trees and make faces at us. If we try to ignore them like Mom tells us, then they yell bad words at us and call us names and sometimes throw things at us.

When we get a chance we chase them. The first time we caught one was before the pups were born. The stupid squirrel thought he'd walk across the yard while we were playing. Samba chased him back and forth across the yard till he got tired. All of a sudden he stopped running, stood up and grabbed his chest. Then he fell over,dead. Guess he was out of shape and had a heart attack. We all gathered around to look at him, but Mom took him away.

Lesson 1 - don't cross the dog yard unless you're in good shape.

The next time we caught a squirrel was just in the last year or two. We were playing in the yard and this dumb squirrel kept yelling bad things at Bailey. She tried to ignore him, so he came part way down the tree and called her a bad name. She just stood there and didn't do anything, so he came farther down the tree and just as he started to say something bad, she jumped up and grabbed him. Boy, he squealed like a little piggy. She brought him over to Mom and put him on the ground. He was so surprised that he just laid there blinking his eyes. He didn't know what hit him. Mom scooped him up in the poop scoop. He didn't like that at all and started yelling, but she heaved him over the fence. Guess we had the last laugh that time.

Lesson 2 - if you're busy talking trash,be sure you know where you are and who's listening.

We're not sure why Mom doesn't want us chasing these nasty creatures. As far as we can tell all they do is steal the bird food and chew on out deck.

There's a smaller economy size that Mom calls a chipmunk, but we know that it's just a squirrel in disguise. Does he really think those racing stripes will fool us?

These guys live under a big heavy rock in the yard. All of us together can't move that rock, but Morgan knows he's there and Morgan is our best squirrel watcher. She thinks that after a lizard appetizer, a nice entree of racing stripe squirrel would be really tasty. My money's on Morgan.

So only 24 hours after one of the best days f the year, we have to endure a day especially set to appreciate squirrels. Life isn't fair.
Till next time,your pal Fudge

A Tale Of Two Days - Day 1

2012-01-19T14:44:00.000-05:00

Hello everybody, Fudge here to tell you a tale of two days. This is meant to demonstrate how much difference 24 hours can make.

January 20, that's tomorrow, is Cheese Day. Now there's a holiday we like to celebrate.

Just think about cheese. We like cheese that's round.

We like cheese that's square.

We like cheese that comes in wedges.

We even like cheese with holes in it.

We like it all by itself, just plain cheese. But Mom knows how to make other stuff with it, too, like sandwiches.

Or pizza.

Or mac and cheese, that's one of my favorites.

Sometimes in the evening we can get Mom to open a bag of these. Cheetos are one of the best forms of cheese.

What's your favorite way to eat cheese?

Be sure to remind you human tomorrow about CHEESE DAY and say that it's your duty to celebrate it.
Your Pal, Fudge

Fudge Has A Boo Boo

2012-01-17T18:04:00.000-05:00

Last week I took Fudge to visit Dr B. He had his annual exam and bloodwork and got a few vaccinations. His exam was good and his blood was great, but there were a couple issues I needed to discuss with the doctor.

Fudge has been very hard on his teeth. He's broken most of the bottom teeth by hitting his mouth on tables and drawers. He has a couple teeth in the back that collect tartar more than the others. I'd also been watching what we thought was a sebaceous cyst on his head and a small ugly growth on his side.

This morning Fudge happily jumped into the car, not realizing what was coming. He was going to have a dental cleaning and growth removal surgery.

We picked him up about an hour ago and he staggered to the car, not looking anything like the happy little guy we dropped off this morning. He was still heavily under the influence of pain killers and only wanted to curl up and sleep.

His teeth are sparkly clean and he had some areas on his gums reshaped to prevent bacteria growth. He'll probably be eating soft foods for a few days.

The growth on his side was a small papilloma, but was shallow and easily removed with a local. He has one stitch in it. The growth on his head, however, was a surprise. Dr B thought it was a cyst, but when he made the incision, it turned out to be hard inside, not a cyst at all. He had to increase the size of the incision to remove the whole growth and Fudge is sporting several stitches in his head. The news is still pretty good, he's pretty sure the growth was nothing to worry about, but we'll watch it to make sure it doesn't grow back. Meanwhile Fudge has a big bald spot on the top of his head.

Not to worry, it's only hair and these dogs really know how to grow hair.

He's Too Sexy For His Coat

2012-01-15T15:04:00.000-05:00

Hi Everybody, it's me Fudge with some exciting news.

You all know what a handsome, smart and accomplished dude I am. I've been trying to think of ways to let the whole world know. I considered my own TV show and magazine, but Mom told me I'd have to hire my own secretary to handle those. I expected her to do it, but she said she's too busy. Can you believe that?

I'd make a great cover boy or a super centerfold.

Anyway I've been thinking a lot about my chance for fame and then last week it happened. I got an email from a very nice lady in Portugal named Belinha. She is starting her own Zazzle store and wants me, Fudge, to be her model..

Of course I said yes and sent her a photo. Now you can go look at her blog and see ME. Her blog has a wonderful name, too. It's called A Portuguese Love. Isn't that a great name? It's almost as good as FUDGE'S BLOG. That may be next, who knows.

Be sure and check out the Zazzle Store. You'll see me on lots of items, like cards and notebooks and tote bags. Today Zazzle, tomorrow the world!
Your Pal, Fudge

This Little Piggy

2012-01-13T14:26:00.000-05:00

After finding a pig in the front yard last weekend, I got to thinking about pigs. I've never owned a pig, but I remember visiting my best friend in elementary school and meeting two rather special pigs.

It seems that my friend's father had brought home two tiny piglets intending to raise them, then have them butchered for meat for the family. My friend's mother fell in love with the little piggies and treated them as pets. They followed her all around the yard and when she went in the house, they settled down on the porch to wait for her. She bathed them weekly and sang to them as she did her yard work. As you can guess, they lived out their lives and never became bacon.

We all grew up with stories and rhymes about pigs. There were the three pigs.

And when we were very little our Mom's probably did the little piggy thing with our toes.

Speaking of the little piggy toe rhyme, I love the Geico ad starring Maxwell, the pig that went "wee wee wee all the way home".

Now I am not a fan of television advertising. Why is it that men are so hypnotised by commercials? When I'm trying to talk to Rob during a commercial, I can see that he's concentrating more on the television than on me. That's when I hit the off button on the remote to get his attention. Anyway, I love Maxwell. He's quite annoying, but he makes me smile.

Another annoying famous pig is Miss Piggy. Now I like the fact that she's a strong female character and I like her tough talk, but I wish she'd leave my Kermit alone. I'm a frog collector and feel very protective of the little green fellow.

Lately I've started playing Angry Birds and the villainous pigs in that game can make me talk back to the game.

The smirks on their faces and the nasty little noise they make when you miss them is what keeps me going back for one more try.

Finally, have you see the 'teacup piggies'? Apparently these started out as toys for children, but became toys for adult collectors.

Look at these adorable little outfits on these tiny pigs. I know I'd have loved these when I was a kid. No Barbie dolls for me. I was strictly an animal lover. Some things never change.

Who would have thought that pigs would play such a prominent part in my life? Are you a fan of Maxwell?

WARNING !!!

2012-01-07T13:50:00.000-05:00

When you do too much of this....

You start seeing this.......

We present this as a public service to our readers. We've seen deer, turkeys, chickens, raccoons, opossums, cows and horses in our yard, but we've never before today seen one of these. We're pretty sure it's because Mom has spent too much time playing the bird game lately.

So if your Mom or Dad spends a lot of time with these guys...

Watch Out!!
Your Pal, Fudge

Fudge Explains New Years

2012-01-05T11:28:00.000-05:00

Hi Everybody. Happy New Year!

We dogs understand about Christmas, sort of. Humans bring a tree into the house, then tell us not to water it. Be honest now, how many of you sneak over and water it when they're not looking?

We understand about presents. We get lots of toys and treats and sometimes stuff we don't really want like a new brush or a trip to the groomer. That's kind of like humans getting underwear for Christmas. Nobody really wants it, but you have to be nice about it.

What we don't really understand is this thing called New Years. Our humans act like it's important, but why? They stay up late and watch a ball drop off a building on the TV. They can watch our ball drop off the deck any time they want to.

Then after the ball falls on the ground, they do this.

Then they do this. I wondered about this stuff they were drinking, so I stuck my nose in a glass. I started sneezing and couldn't stop. Mom thought it was funny. That woman has a warped sense of humor.

As soon as the ball hits the ground we start hearing a lot of noise outside and start barking.

All in all, this New Years stuff doesn't make much sense to us. Then Dad did something that changed everything. He made us New Year's sandwiches. Look at these!

He put turkey and Swiss cheese on party rye and made one for each of us. Wow, were they ever delicious!! Now we think New Years may be one of the very best days of the whole year.

Tell your humans that its a New Year's custom to feed turkey and Swiss cheese sandwiches to you dogs. They may not realize this little known fact.
Your pal, Fudge

Have You Met Mr. Chewy?

2012-01-04T11:23:00.002-05:00

With my active pack, we go thru a lot of dog food and Fudge reminded me that includes treats. From time to time Rob has asked me if there's a company that will deliver it to us and I've looked at several over the last couple years. What I found was that the shipping charges were out of sight on some and where they offered free shipping, the price of the food was much higher than I can pay locally.

Recently we were introduced to Mr. Chewy.

Mr Chewy carries over 70 brands of dog and cat food. Several of my dogs are on prescription diets and those are only available from my vet, but I checked the food we use most and the price was within pennies of the price I pay locally. Good so far!

But what about shipping costs on a heavy item like 40 pounds of dog food? Here's the good news. Orders over $49 are free. That's right no shipping costs. With a pack like mine getting to $49 is a breeze. If your order falls under $49 there's a flat shipping fee of $4.95. Or you can do as Fudge advises and add a bag of treats to reach the free figure.

We decided to give Mr Chewy a try.

Last week two boxes arrived and the dogs were very excited. I didn't need to tell them the boxes were for them. They knew from the wonderful smells inside.

I ordered a bag of dog food.....

and two bags of treats. These were treats I wanted for Samba and was having trouble finding locally.

Shipping only took three days and that was working around holidays, so we were very pleased. Now Rob is happy because he doesn't have to drive across town and carry heavy bags of dog food around. I'm happy because I have access to products I want for my dogs.

Happiest of all are the dogs.

Mr Chewy also carries Frontline for flea and tick control. He also has a great return policy and even pays the return shipping.

Noah Is Cute

2012-01-02T15:00:00.001-05:00

Dear Mango, Honorable Judges and Voting Public,

My name is Noah and I'm a five year old boy Portuguese Water Dog.

When I was born I was only about half the size of my brothers and sisters. Some people called me a runt. That's not a very nice thing to call someone. My Mom called me her little peanut.

Well, all my brothers and sisters had a head start and grew bigger than me. I'm still kind of small and that can be a problem for a guy like me.

My brother Sky is a big guy and he's a really good ball player. I'd like to be big and fast like him.

My Dad Fudge is a big guy and he sings and dances and pushes other dogs around. I'd like to do that, too, but when people look at me they always say, " Oh, he's so cute!"

So you see the problem, I'm just cute.

My favorite activities are riding in the car and sitting on Mom and Dad's laps. Come to think of it, Sky and Fudge are both too big to sit on laps, so maybe there is an up side to being little and cute.

Mom suggested that I enter Mango Minster. She thinks it'll give me an ego boost and make me feel like a big dog.

Believe me, it's not easy being the 'cute little guy' in a house full of over achievers.

Thank you for accepting my entry.
Noah

Bailey The Adventurer

2012-01-01T19:25:00.001-05:00

Dear Mango, Honorable Judges and Voting Public,

My name is Bailey and I'm a five year old girl Portuguese Water Dog.

We had a family meeting to decide on what category I should enter. My Mom says the category of Adventure Animal was made for me.

Mom says that even before my eyes were open I was trying to climb out of the whelping box to go exploring and the day they opened, I left the box.

By the time I was five weeks old I was climbing out of our four foot high pen and I've been busy exploring ever since. Mom does insist that I confine my explorations to the house and yard.

Being the adventurous type keeps a girl very busy. I have to stay on guard for any intruders that may enter my yard. I'm on duty rain or shine, sleet or snow.

If strangers enter the yard I check them out to make sure they're friendly.

I'm ready if the yard is invaded by wild ducks.

There's a mouse that lives in this wood pile and I plan to catch him.

Squirrels run up this tree and I think maybe I can learn to climb trees if I try hard.

Maybe I'll start by scaling the walls of the tower. It's good practice for tree climbing.

I try to keep the yard tidy at all times. While doing it I imagine that I'm fighting my way thru the jungle.

I think I'd like to visit my friends in Oz and check out those strange animals called roos, but Mom says Oz is on the other side of the earth. No problem, I'll just dig thru.

It's hard digging in rocky ground so I got some help from my brother, but I have to supervise to keep him on target.

Lots of explorer/adventurers have buddies. Lewis had Clark, Orville had Wilbur and Batman had Robin. I have Monkey.

Monkey goes everywhere with me and is my best friend. He gives me moral support and in turn I protect him from large brown and white predators.

Thank you for accepting my entry. Monkey and I would appreciate your vote.

New Year's Eve Celebrations I Have Known

2011-12-31T14:36:00.001-05:00

I've been fortunate to celebrate New Years in many styles. For a number of years I worked for a bank and had to work on New Year's Eve. The bank fed us and with any luck we made it home either shortly before midnight or not long after. After I left the bank I attended some parties at restaurants or clubs and sometimes house parties. My favorite New Year's celebrations were far from home.

In December of 1984 I traveled to The Soviet Union with my cousin Missy. Under Communism Christmas was not an official holiday so we were just in time for the big New Year's celebration. Here is a New Years's tree in front of the Bolshoi Ballet Theatre. There were festive trees in our hotel and even in our tour bus.

Here I am dressed for the Russian winter weather.

I toured my favorite building in the world, St. Basil's Cathedral. I spent most of the day there wandering from chapel to chapel. Every inch of the interior is brightly painted.

The hotel we stayed at, The Kosmos, threw a wonderful New Year's Eve party for us. We celebrated with tourists from Japan, Finland and several other countries. Every hour was New Year's somewhere and we celebrated them all. We had a nine course meal with the most wonderful melt-in-your-mouth chicken Kiev served somewhere around midnight. The ice cream ( there is nothing like Russian ice cream made with pure cream) arrived around 2AM. There was a balalaika band playing and we all danced well past dawn. The special Russian traditional drink that we shared was an Aurora Borealis. Here are the direction, if you want to try it tonight.

Into a large punch bowl pour one bottle of champagne and one bottle of vodka. Then pour in another bottle of champagne and another bottle of vodka. Now pass the punch bowl around and each person drinks from it. Continue passing the bowl around till either the punch is gone or everyone has passed out. Cheers!

Some of us, including me, stayed up all night. Early in the morning those of us who could manage it went to Red Square to join the long line of people touring Lenin's tomb.

This is a forbidden shot of the changing of the guard at Lenin's tomb. We were told that we were not allowed to photograph certain things and any shots of soldiers were strictly forbidden. That's why you can see that I'm standing behind someone to hide my camera.

Then it was on to visit Catherine The Great's carousel.

When we got there we were treated to a troika ride. Six of us snuggled into the sleigh under blankets and rode thru the fields. We sang Jingle Bells at the top of our lungs and the driver was so pleased that he took us around again.

The trip lasted about ten days and although the temperature was colder than anything I'd ever experienced and I got very little sleep because I didn't want to miss anything, it was one of the most exciting times of my life. I fell in love with Russia, the people, the customs and the history.

If cold (-36 degrees) doesn't turn you on, maybe you'll prefer my New Year's Eve in Trinidad. In 1991 Rob and I flew to Trinidad on New Year's Eve day. What a contrast to Russia!

The Caribbean drink that we shared at midnight was a Bentley. I liked them immediately and continued to enjoy Bentleys throughout the trip. If you'd like to try one, here are the instructions. They aren't as deadly as an Aurora Borealis.

1 measure of freshly squeezed Caribbean lime juice
2 measures of cane sugar
4 measures of club soda
2 dashes of Angostura Bitters per serving
1 red Maraschino cherry
Enjoy, they're really good!

On New Year's Day we went to the annual horse race which was conveniently right across the street from our hotel. We then took a walking tour of the city and listened to steel bands practicing for Carnival.

We walked thru the botanical gardens. Notice the size of this wild Poinsettia. It's the national flower. We also went thru the zoo which is next to the gardens.

But when you're on an island, you must go to the beach. The beaches of Trinidad and Tobago are the most beautiful that I've ever seen, including Mexico and Hawaii.

Maracas Bay, Trinidad

Mt. Irvine Bay, Tobago

Rockley Bay, Scarborough, Tobago

Mt Irvine, Tobago The beach nearest our hotel.

Rob playing tourist. The temps were in the mid eighties every day.

So, wherever in the world you're celebrating the new year, we hope it's a safe, happy, healthy one for everyone. Happy New Year from Rob and me and Morgan, Tsar and the Porties.

Always In Our Hearts

2011-12-28T14:03:00.001-05:00

2011 has been a difficult year for many. Way too many of our friends crossed the Rainbow Bridge this year and we'd like to take some time to remember them.

January:

Bucky 11/5/95 - 1/18/11

February:

Princess Angelina died 2/26/11 at age 11

March:

Tanner died 3/13/11 at age 14

Nemo died at age 15

April:

Gabbi 7/3/07 - 4/24/11

May:

Sandy died 5/4/11 at age 13

Annie died 5/20/11 at age 7

June:
Amie Soto Blossom 1/31/98 - 6/2/11
and her best friend Mew died 8/22/11

Cinnamon died 6/17/11 at age 5

Hamlet died 6/17/11 at age 13+

July:

Ruby died 7/20/11

August:

Rudi died 8/13/11 at age 9

Thor 5/5/01 - 8/21/11

September:
Reggie died 9/22/11

Twix 6/20/99 - 9/24/11

October:

Gizmo 12/4/05 - 10/17/11

Cloud died 10/27/11 at age 9+

November:

Jake died 11/26/11 at age 13

December:

Darby 11/20/94 - 12/3/11

Kendra 5/22/99 - 12/14/11

Jackson 3/21/01 - 12/20/11

Bubba died 12/30/2011 at age 12

Although we didn't know them, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the terrible event of December 16th. That morning a house fire killed five of the Houston Pittie Pack. This is something that every pet owner fears and we are all horrified by their deaths. The two surviving dogs and the family are in our thoughts.
Guero

Shelby

Coco Chanel

Tiger

Lucky

We miss all of you and you will all live forever in our hearts.

Mom's Christmas Presents

2011-12-27T16:03:00.000-05:00

Last week Fudge told you that we always give our Dad a Christmas gift. Mom helps us because she doesn't allow us to have either green papers or credit cards. Samba thinks she knows how to shop online, but Mom says we can't touch her computer anymore.

Usually we don't give our Mom a gift in a box because we need help to buy gifts. But this year we got some help.

Miss Nicole and the Lapdogs helped us get our Mom a special Christmas present. These are the Lapdogs.

The Lapdogs are Lola, Sophie, Tut and Zeus. They had a giveaway on their blog and we won. It was a gift from jYOUly. A very nice lady named Miss Lisa makes this special personalized jewelry. We sent her a couple pictures of us and she sent back Mom's gifts. Want to see what we gave her?

This is a special little box for her to keep her cards in. She has cards to give to people so they can contact her with questions about Porties or doggy sweaters. Fudge wanted a big picture of him on the front, but we decided on a picture of us when we were babies.

We also gave her a necklace with one of her favorite pictures. It's baby Noah with his big fish.

Mom was really happy with our gifts. We all want to thank Nicole and the Lapdogs and Miss Lisa for helping us give her such a nice gift. Now if she'd only put down that silly Fire thing and stop playing Angry Birds.

Santa Came

2011-12-25T18:41:00.000-05:00

After breakfast Rob took the dogs on the deck to wish all the neighbors a Merry Christmas.

While they waited outside, I arranged Santa's handiwork. This is what the toybox looked like before I put the lid on.

Samba always opens the box so they can see what Santa left them. The others will stand around and wait for someone to open the box, but Samba believes in doing it herself.

Everyone was interested in what was inside. Sky immediately found the new glowballs.

Bailey found a new monkey.

They kept going back. They aren't happy until every toy is out of the box.

Tsar decided that he liked the red monkey. He's usually attracted to bright colors.

Sky likes to really play with his toys, he throws them in the air and catches them.

Everyone found something to play with except Norma Jean who considers me her private toy. She sat on my lap and licked my hand and twice licked the camera lens.

After a couple house of play everyone went onto the deck for a treat. Then it was nap time while the humans opened their gifts. Santa did good.

The Longest Day

2011-12-24T12:58:00.000-05:00

Remember how long the day before Christmas used to feel when we were little? The minutes dragged by.

Santa, where are you?

Our toy box has disappeared, so where will Santa put our toys?

We're trying to be good so Santa will stop at our house.

Do you see him yet, Morgan?

Mom says he's on his way.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah or have a wonderful holiday, whatever you celebrate. We hope you get everything on your list and all your dreams come true.

P-A-R-T-Y

2011-12-23T19:45:00.000-05:00

Guess what! We got invited to a Christmas party at Splash and Gracie's house! Mom said we had to choose someone to represent us because she said nobody wants to see a car drive up to their house with ten dogs in it. She also said she wanted to enjoy the party, and that meant that she wasn't taking all ten of us. What a meanie!

So we each voted for ourself and wound up with all ten of us winning. Mom chose for us. She said the two oldest ladies could represent us. That's Morgan and Samba.

They wore red bows because you have to dress up for parties.

Our Mom took her camera but she didn't take very many pictures. She just sat around and talked and ate and enjoyed herself. Dad gave the ladies some last minute instructions about being good girls and telling him if they needed to go outside.

Runtley greeted Morgan.

Everyone got treats.

Then came the best part - presents! We sent some toys to Splash and Gracie and some tiny ones to Runtley. Bailey even sent her sister a monkey.

Look what they gave us. Cookies, a special treat cookbook and an ice cube tray for making frozen yogurt treats.

Mom got some stuff, too, but she got an extra special present, a portrait of Gracie. Isn't it beautiful?

But Grace and Splash and Runtley are all getting a super special present. They're going to be a real family. Their humans are getting married and they're all going to live happily ever after. Isn't that a most wonderful Christmas present? We're very happy for them.

Our Wish For You

2011-12-22T18:43:00.000-05:00

We wish you a merry Christmas,

And a happy new year.

We wish you a lot of biscuits,

To snack on all year.

We wish you some squeaky new toys,

To bring you good cheer.

We wish you a bed to nap on,

Till springtime gets here.

We wish you a merry Christmas,

Please come back next year.

From Morgan, Tsar, Samba, Fudge, Tess, Sky, Lola, Bailey, Noah, Norma jean and Mom, too.

Here Comes The Sun

2011-12-22T00:30:00.001-05:00

Today is the Winter Solstice.

It's a new beginning as we head toward another new year.

The days are now starting to get longer.

We're moving toward spring and summer.

We moving toward green leaf buds and sunshine.

Happy Solstice everyone.

We're Getting Close

2011-12-21T16:27:00.000-05:00

Wow, what a busy month December is. You'd think with eleven other months to prepare, we wouldn't be scurrying around at the last minute every year.

There's been a lot going on here lately. Fudge has kept you up to date about shopping and baking, but I've been busy, too. Mainly I've been watching over and caring for my injured pups. Here's an update.

Morgan is doing very well. Her knee seems to be healing and though she walks with a limp, it doesn't seem to bother her. She skips rather than running, but she can climb stairs by herself and she's acting like her old happy self.

Samba's foot also seems to have healed. She's running and jumping and not showing any more signs of pain.

Tsar is still on pain meds for his back problem, but he, too, is feeling better. We did run into a little problem with him. He injured his back on a Saturday and refused to eat after that. By the following Friday I was worried and Dr B prescribed an appetite stimulant for him. It worked fast and by that evening he was eating a little. In a couple days he was cleaning his bowl. Now I just have to keep him quiet for another few weeks to give it time to heal.

Bailey went in for x-rays for the pain in her hip . Nothing showed up so we're thinking it's a soft tissue injury resulting from rough play with her sisters. She's taking an anti-inflammatory for a couple weeks and staying out of the running and wrestling that passes for play with my dogs. She is acting much better.

After gifts are wrapped and cookies baked, I get to settle down with a glass of wine and my stitchery. My hand is still not quite well enough to start knitting, but it's getting close. For now I'm sticking to cross stitch and having so much fun with it. Here are my two newest pieces.

This was a quick little 'Mosey and Me' design.

This piece took longer than usual because of all the beading and charms, but it was so much fun and the little characters are so happy that they make me smile.

Tomorrow we'll make more cookies. That seems to be a popular activity around here.

Smelly Holidays

2011-12-19T20:32:00.000-05:00

Hi everybody, it's me again. Mom has been busy getting ready for Christmas, so she lets me write the blog. Besides I have lots of interesting things to tell you.

Today we were very busy dogs. We made Christmas cookies. You start with stuff called dough. It smells great, but you can't eat it until it's cooked.

Mom did the measuring and Dad helped her mix because she has a sore hand. We helped by licking the spoon.

Tsar wouldn't lick the spoon because he thinks everyone is trying to poison him. What a goofball!

Dad did the rolling out part because Mom doesn't like to do it. She says she gets bored. How can you get bored with cookies?

We helped by keeping Dad company.

Even Tsar was interested in that part.

Then Mom put the cookies in the oven and we had to wait and smell them cooking.

Finally they were done. First we made dog cookies. Two kinds! We made apple peanut butter cookies and gingerbread cookies. Oh wow do they ever smell good!

After the dog cookies were done we made people cookies, gingerbread ones. Mom has become very hungry for gingerbread lately so we made some just for her and look what we made...

Portuguese Gingerbread Dogs!

We made lots of them so Mom can have all she wants.

Making cookies takes a long time, but after dinner tonight we each got to have one of our own homemade Christmas cookies and they were sure good.

Fudge's Shopping Advice

2011-12-17T15:49:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone in Blogland.

Isn't this a great time of the year? The big truck men keep coming to the house bringing boxes and some of them are for us.

One of the best things is all the special food that is around the house at this time of year. There are lots of good smells and super tastes, like turkey and especially cookies. We love cookies, both dog kind and people kind.

Today I want to give you some ideas for gifts if you haven't finished your shopping. Every year we give our Dad a gift from us dogs. Mom helps us, but they're all things we think he should have. Here are a few of the things we've given Dad in the past. We can't tell you what we're giving him this year because then it wouldn't be a surprise. Right?

A shirt that shows that he belongs to us is always a good gift.

It's great to go for long walks on cold, snowy days, but remember that humans don't have thick fur and they get cold. If they get too cold they only go for short walks. If you want a nice long walk think about giving your Dad a warm jacket.

Humans don't have very much fur on their hands or ears either, so this might extend your walks.

We love to go for rides in the car, especially to the park, the lake or the ice cream shop. A long time ago we gave our Dad one of these car compasses so we would find our way without getting lost.

Last year we updated that gift with one of these. Now an invisible lady tells us how to find the ice cream shop. Neat, huh?

Our Dad is an artist and one year Mom got him lots of art supplies, like paints and brushes. We got him one of these things so he could learn how to make pictures of us. I don't think he's ever used it, but I'm not sure. Dad makes abstract paintings with lots of lines and splotches, so maybe that's what we look like to him.

We don't give Mom gifts at Christmas, but she says we're her best gift of all, so that's a good thing. Even if you don't do any shopping, be sure and give your Mom and Dad a kiss and a cuddle. They like that stuff. Your pal, Fudge

Strange Human Behavior - Part Two

2011-12-14T15:03:00.000-05:00

Hello again everybody, Fudge here.

I'm afraid I have an embarrassing situation to discuss with you today. It will point up how humans really aren't quite as superior as they pretend to be. Let me explain.

In our house we dogs have three water bowls. One is in the garage, one in the kitchen and one in the bedroom. Mom makes sure that they all have cool clean water in them all the time.

Our humans also have several water bowls in the house, but they keep them in little rooms with doors.

When we were all puppies, our Mom and Dad showed us that it was important for us to go outside to pee or poop. We sometimes thought the carpet would do, but they convinced us that we needed to tell them and they'd take us outside. Now this is just fine with us, we like going outside unless it raining really hard.

But our humans, and other humans that visit us aren't housebroken. They pee in their water bowls. Yes, it's a shameful thing to admit, but it's better to get these things out in the open. Now I ask you, what kind of animal pees in it's water bowl?

We like to go in the little room with the humans and observe this strange behavior and once I decided that I would try to please Mom, so I lifted my leg and peed on her water bowl. She told me that it was bad, but I thought she must have misunderstood, so I tried it again the next day. Do you know what she did? She put that horrible belly band on me so that I couldn't pee till she took it off. I really hate that thing, so I never did it again. I guess humans don't like to share their water bowls.

Once Mom caught Norma Jean with her feet in the human water bowl, playing in the water. After that Mom started closing the doors to the little rooms where they keep their water bowls. Now we can't go in there anymore. It's too bad because they have paper to shred in those rooms and that's lots of fun.

Anyway, I've confessed our shameful secret and I hope you don't think badly of our humans even though they've never been housebroken. We keep trying to tell them how pleasant it is to pee on a tree, but they don't seem to get the message.

Have you ever heard of such behavior?
Fudge

Strange Human Behavior - Part One

2011-12-11T17:51:00.001-05:00

Hi Everybody. I'm here today to discuss some very puzzling behavior from my our humans. This is not new behavior, but we dogs have discussed it and we just don't understand why they act the way they do. Maybe some of you have seen the same strange things in your households and can enlighten us.

This is the situation. In our house we have several of these things.

These things usually sit quietly on the table or the desk and they don't bother anyone, but occasionally they make a funny noise and then our Mom or Dad stop whatever they're doing and go pick them up.

They hold the things up close to their heads and start talking. There's nobody else in the room, so we think they're talking to us even though we don't understand most of the words they're saying.

To show that we're paying attention and want to carry on this conversation, we start barking.

When we bark, Mom and Dad tell us to be quiet, so we stop barking while they talk. Then when they pause and seem to be waiting for us to answer, we bark again. This does not make them happy and sometimes Mom goes into the bedroom and shuts the door so we can't hear what she's saying.

So our question is, why are they talking to us with that thing against their heads and why don't they want us to answer? Do your humans do this, too? What do you do? We'd love to hear your explanations of this bizarre behavior.

Your pal, Fudge

An Unwelcome Guest

2011-12-10T13:09:00.001-05:00

I'm afraid the Grinch has been here. I think he's taken up residence here.

As you all know, about ten weeks ago Morgan tore her cruciate ligament. She's been on rest and pain medications ever since and she's doing well.

About three weeks ago Samba started showing pain in her back foot. Dr B examined it and thinks it may be a tendon injury. She's on rest.

Two weeks ago Bailey started limping. I gave her something for it and after about four days the limp went away.

Thursday morning when I let her out of her crate she was holding her right back leg up and wouldn't put any weight on it. I started giving her something for inflammation and pain. She's now putting weight on the leg, but is limping again.

Bailey has an appointment with Dr B on Monday morning.

Then yesterday morning when I called Tsar to get up for breakfast, he screamed in pain. I checked him over and couldn't see what was wrong, so I gave him his arthritis meds and watched him. He stood and sat hunched up and tried to avoid lying down. If he did lie down, he'd scream in pain when he tried to stand up again. I gave him some pain medication at bedtime.

This morning we called the clinic first thing. Dr B wasn't in, but Dr Missy saw him and my boy has a bulging disc in his back. Tsar is on rest, pain meds and muscle relaxants.

I've tried to be a good girl all year, so why has the Grinch moved into our house this Christmas? Four of my ten dogs are currently on rest and meds for leg and back injuries. This is not what I wanted for Christmas.

A Musical Interlude

2011-12-08T18:16:00.000-05:00

Today in the spirit of the season, we'd like to entertain you with a special song.

Oh, you'd better be sweet,

You'd better be neat.

You'd better not bite,
Or get in a fight.

Santa Paws is coming to town.

Don't chew on a sock,
Or bring in a rock.

On walkies don't tug,
Don't poop on the rug.

Santa Paws is coming to town.

He watches when you're playing,

He sees you chase the cat.

He wants you to obey the rules,
So do it, that is that.

So be a good pup,
Or just do your best.

Try really hard,
He'll take care of the rest.

Santa Paws is coming to town.

Keeping Busy

2011-12-07T14:33:00.000-05:00

I still feel a little like this, but the ideas are starting to come back into my head and translate onto the blog.

I'd been busy knitting sweaters and toys when suddenly last month the tendonitis in my right hand started hurting. A lot. I was feeling the pain in the palm and radiating up my middle finger. It got so painful that I couldn't even lift my coffee mug with my right hand. I knew it was time to stop knitting and let my hand rest, but I can't seem to sit without my hands being busy, so I tried some cross stitching. Fortunately, that didn't hurt and so I've been stitching some holiday designs.

I did these little fellows just because I thought they were cute. They were also fun to stitch.

Next I wanted to do a Santa design, but there are so many cute ones to choose from, so this is what I chose.

This one reminded me of my trip to Russia.

One of my favorite designers for Santas is 'Mosey And Me'. I've made a couple of their designs before but this was probably the most labor intensive one so far. I ike them because they're not the pretty Santa that we're used to seeing, but they're kind of schmucky old men who look down and out, but kind.

Last night I was going thru my patterns to find my next project and I found two more Santas by Mosey and Me, so they'll move to the top of my to do list.

I also want to test my hand with some knitting so I think Morgan might appreciate a new sweater. With arthritis in her legs, it might help keep the old joints warm. Wish me luck.

Guess What We Have!

2011-12-06T15:54:00.000-05:00

When we got up this morning we found something wonderful. Our wishes came true.

After the very hot summer we had, we all were wishing for a cold snowy day and here it is.

Dad, come see what we have.

So what does a water dog do on a freezing cold day when the temperature is 20 degrees?

First we check out the wading pool, but the water is frozen.

So we settle down on the cold ground to chew on some ice and some icy cold sticks.

It's a wonderful life!

We Join the Occupy Movement

2011-12-04T12:58:00.000-05:00

Our friend Mr Pip is the sponsor of the 'Occupy The Couch' movement and we're all joining him. We're sending our pictures to him to show that we're all occupiers. On his blog he's posting pictures of all the protesters and next week he'll choose two to win prizes. If you believe in the 'occupy the couch' movement, be sure to visit Pip and join the throngs who occupy.

Morgan is a leader in the movement. At least she was until she injured her leg. Now she's not allowed to jump onto the couch, so it leaves room for someone else to occupy.

Tsar is another lead occupier and he's big, so nobody argues with him.

Samba believes in making herself comfy while occupying.

Fudge is a well dressed occupier.

Sky really gets into occupying.

We have four couches in our house, but there are ten dogs and two humans, so sometimes all the couches are occupied at the same time. When that happens, we occupy the window seats. Here's Noah showing the technique.

Sky is the major window seat occupier.

Won't you join this important movement? Just have your human snap a photo of you in "occupy" mode and send it to Mr Pip by December 12. Two random occupy protesters will receive gifts.

It's December?

2011-12-02T15:03:00.001-05:00

Wow, it's December already! How did that happen?

I've been doing pretty well on my crafty projects lately, but I've had a bad case of 'blogger's block'.

I sit down at the keyboard and nothing comes to mind. Now you know that with ten dogs and three birds, our house is a center of activity, but the minute my fingers land on the keyboard, it's all gone. Does that ever happen to you? Maybe it's just seasonal overload.

We got our lab reports back from the recent vet visit and they were almost great. I say almost because with Samba and Morgan on meds, certain levels are a little off, but Dr B is pleased and says we're good to go for another six months.

Tsar wants you all to know that he has a time consuming new hobby, mouse hunting. Apparently a family of field mice has taken up residence in the rock pile in the back yard. Tsar and Bailey spend most of their outdoor time searching for the little rodents. Baily has managed to dislodge several rocks and dig a few holes, but Tsar has actually caught a couple mice.

I watched him catch one a couple days ago. He stood extremely still watching a certain spot. After several minutes a mouse came out from between two rocks. Tsar pounced like a giant cat and landed on the mouse with his front feet. It was all over for the mousie. Tsar delivered the body to me and I disposed of it while he went back to the rocks to start again.

Sky got a package in the mail today. A while ago I noticed that he had broken the clasp on his collar. It was still holding together, but I couldn't trust it. Last week I sent the collar back to Lupine and today a brand new collar arrived to replace the broken one. Sky is very happy and sent Lupine a thank you note and a smile. Lupine guarantees their collars, leashes and harnesses. This is the first time we've tested the guarantee and we're very pleased with their quick response.

A friend of ours, Mr Pip is staging an 'occupy' event and we're joining him. His family removed their couch and haven't yet replaced it with a new one. What's a couch potato to do? We're going to go start making our signs for the protest, but all you have to do to support the operation is send a picture of yourself occupying the couch. We have lots of those. There's always a dog occupying the couch at our house.

At the grocery store yesterday I picked up ingredients for Christmas cookies.

Don't Christmas cookies taste great? They're even better than cookies at any other time of the year. I love the decorating and always think I'll make pretty ones like the pictures, but I usually get tired by the time they're ready to decorate.

Then I wind up just spreading some icing on and forget about getting fancy.

They taste just as good without all the artistic touches.

I'm going to make a real effort to overcome this block and share my holiday spirit with the rest of you. Are you doing festive things this weekend? Tell me about your activities and give me some ideas. Maybe I can get my brain working again.

Too Good To Believe

2011-11-28T15:27:00.000-05:00

Today was an important vet visit. The three oldest dogs, Morgan, Tsar and Samba get a check up and bloodwork every six months to stay on top of all health issues. Lately we've had some serious problems and I was anxious about today's visit.

I woke myself at 4AM to give Samba her thyroid tablet. She was having a thyroid test done this morning and needs to have taken the pill 4 to 5 hours prior to having her blood drawn. I slept badly the rest of the night and was up at first light to get urine samples from all three. They all cooperated nicely and we arrived at the clinic for our appointment in pretty good spirits.

Tsar went first. His checkup was great, he stood still for the blood draw and Dr B was very pleased with him. His weight is good and all systems seemed to be working well. We've been treating his arthritis for six months now and he's like a new dog. The first thing I noticed a few months ago was that he lifts his leg again to pee. He also does a playbow and he and Fudge run around the yard together playing almost every day. He comes when I call him, often running to me and he's even eating more regularly I guess he just feels better, period. His urinalysis was perfect and we'll have his lab results back tomorrow.

Morgan is using her leg about 80% of the time and sometimes her limp is barely noticeable. Her eyes are a little worse than last time, but don't seem to be bothering her. Her urinalysis was the same as last time which was good and the only new problem was some pain in her wrist from arthritis. Dr B was pleased with her progress, but she's gained two pounds from inactivity during her knee recovery. She'll be dieting for a while starting tonight.

Then it was Samba's turn. Samba had been busy getting into things in the office while waiting. At one point she stepped on the pedal that controls the table and Morgan started dropping fast. Dr B and I both grabbed Morgan while our tech, Melissa, grabbed Samba. She had been trying to reach the treats by herself.

Samba has a lot going on, but we were amazed at what's happening. She's getting new muscle in the head area where the MMM destroyed her jaw muscle. The other muscles are bigger and stronger and although she's head-shy and won't let us open her mouth, she can open it quite wide by herself as she demonstrated. Her eyes, though a little slow, have good blink reflexes.

She has injured her foot and cried out when it was examined. We'll watch it and maybe do an x-ray if it doesn't improve by itself. Her injured tail has improved. The inflammation is gone, but she has lost some of the movement in the very end of the tail.

Then we checked the urinalysis. We've been trying for months to get a kidney infection under control and although the antibiotics have helped, they haven't killed the infection completely. Last month Dr B and I discussed the option of injections of a strong antibiotic that could kill the infection, but could have very severe side effects. I decided not to use it. Today the test showed that there is no longer blood in her urine. Her body is fighting it off. Her poor damaged immune system is trying to kill the infection and is succeeding. Dr B and I were both jubilant. We'll repeat the test in a month to be sure it's still improving.

This was a most wonderful vet visit. We'll have the blood results on everyone back tomorrow and that will tell us if anything else is going on, but for today, I'm doing a happy dance.

Let The Shopping Begin!

2011-11-26T14:34:00.000-05:00

Look guys, the big truck guys have been here and they left lots of boxes.

Mom must have been shopping on the computer again.

I wonder what's in these. Do you think they're all for us?

At least Mom stayed home with us on Black Friday. She did her shopping online.

Hey Mom, let's open some of these.

Thanksgiving At Our House

2011-11-24T00:04:00.001-05:00

Mom says that today is Thanksgiving. We have some things we're thankful for.

We're thankful that Samba's illness is under control and that Morgan is getting around pretty well with just a little limp.

We're thankful that we're all together with our Mom and Dad.

We're thankful for that 26 pound turkey in the freezer in the garage. Think how much soup that will make for us.

We're thankful for the full treat jar in the kitchen.

Noah is thankful for the big piece of lasagna he grabbed off Dad's plate the other night when Dad wasn't looking.

We're thankful for our warm beds and blankets, especially after Mom sticks them in the dryer for a few minutes.

We're all very thankful for all of you who come visit us on our blog. Have a happy holiday.

Santa's Work Shop

2011-11-15T17:21:00.000-05:00

Today Rob and I went to Santa's work shop, aka the Disabled American Vet's Thrift Store.

For $18, the price of two toys at Petsmart, we came home with a big black trash bag full of toys for the pack for Christmas.

We found a huge bunny for Lola.

Two big floppy dogs, both with embroidered eyes, so they don't need to have any hard parts removed.

A frog, just the right size for Morgan.

A cute little cow.

A funny looking lamb that just might wind up in my toy collection.

And two monkeys for Bailey. her favorite pal is looking pretty worn out these days and I'm hoping she chooses one of these to be her new best friend.

It was a pretty good haul and all of our dogs except Samba enjoy playing with stuffed toys, so this Christmas they'll have lots of new friends to play with.

I'm starting to feel the holiday spirit. I hope I can hang on to it for another month. Have you started your shopping yet?

Everybody Is Having One

2011-11-14T16:50:00.001-05:00

We're celebrating lots of birthdays lately. Last week was our friend E's birthday. E is Brody's mom.

Then there is our friend Midge who is Freya's mom. They're having a giveaway at their blog to celebrate.

In two days it'll be Jo's birthday. She is Stella's mom.

But today is a special day around here. First it's our vet tech Becky's birthday. Happy birthday, Becky.

But the very best part is that today is both Morgan and Tsar's birthdays and that means a party!!
Morgan is twelve years old today.

Tsar is ten years old today.

Oh boy, those are donut holes covered with sprinkles. Yumm!!!

Because Morgan's leg isn't strong yet, Mom thought she and Tsar should celebrate on the deck without the rest of us around. Morgan was happy to try the new treats.

Tsar wasn't so sure. These are something he's never had before and he doesn't like new stuff. He always thinks someone's trying to trick him.

Mom told him it was OK and he should try the little cakes. So he did.

Then it was time for the party guests to have their treats. Look how nicely we're all sitting.

And where were the guests of honor during all this? Tsar had gone inside, but Morgan watched from up above on the deck.

Happy Birthday to all our November friends. We wish you could all join us for cake.

Six Weeks

2011-11-10T17:34:00.000-05:00

It's been six weeks since Morgan tore the ligaments in her knee. We've tried to keep her very quiet during that time and we carry her up steps. She's had a reduction in her food to try to drop a few pounds. A lighter body means less stress on the joints. She's been doing well and I've been able to cut her pain medication in half.

Yesterday I took her to the clinic to have Dr B assess her progress. He was pleased with what he saw. She's putting about 75% of her weight on her leg again when she walks. He examined her and when he stretched out her leg then bent it, I winced, but Morgan showed no overt signs of pain.

We'll be starting therapy now and she'll only take pain medication at night to ease her sleep. As I've stated many times, Morgan is a tough little girl. Here she is resting among her stuffed animal friends.

Signs Of The Season

2011-11-09T15:37:00.000-05:00

It hasn't been a very beautiful autumn here. Due to the summer drought many of the trees just dropped their leaves without a change of color. We're had a lot of wind lately and a few rainy days, so most of our leaves are now on the ground. But inside I have a definite sign that summer is over and it's time to prepare for the holidays.

The Christmas cactus are in bloom. The younger one has a lot of buds, but only a couple have opened so far.

The 'old girl', she's pushing 40 now, is in full bloom and adding a lot of cheeriness to the dining room where she resides.

These two will bloom from now till May if their usual pattern holds. I really look forward to seeing them flowering each fall.

It's For Us

2011-11-05T14:01:00.000-04:00

Guess what happened here today! A big truck came to our house.

We know that those big trucks bring special things to us. Sometimes we get toys or treats or even new beds. Sometimes they bring stuff like shampoo or clipper blades and those aren't so good.

Today Mom carried in a box and said, " It's for you".

What do you think it could be?

Mom opened it up and let us look inside.

It's treats!!!

Oh boy, these came from the Lapdogs.

Open them, Mom.

Oh boy, these are great.

They sent two flavors. These are brown rice and beef. The others are sweet potato and chicken.

What a good surprise on a cold, windy day.

Even Tsar thinks they're good and Tsar is very picky.

Do you know the Lapdogs? They're Zeus, Tut, Lola and Sophie and they live in cold, snowy New Hampshire. Their Mom does reviews on lots of stuff. Sometimes she reviews books or knitting stuff that our Mom is interested in, but she does lots of great dog stuff, too. And she has giveaways like this one. We got a new soccer ball from her last year and we got some other treats before, but these are delicious.

Let's have another round in honor of our Lapdog friends. This is us doing a happy dance because we had a super treat delivery today.

Phooey

2011-11-03T16:49:00.000-04:00

I had such good intentions and I was off to such a good start. Then....

I've been busy knitting every spare minute. I've made several dog sweaters for the winter holiday season. here are some of them.

I think this one looks boyish.

There are several fancy ones for the girls. Some have ruffles.

Some have glitz.

And some have both.

Some are in Christmas colors.

Monday evening I started knitting a pair of Christmas dolls when I started feeling some pain in my right hand. I took an aspirin and went on knitting. Tuesday the pain was worse, but I continued knitting. Yesterday I finally gave in. I recognize that I have tendonitis in my hand and the knitting is aggravating it.

So, the knitting needles have been put aside for awhile and I'm resting and icing my hand. I'm increasing my vitamin D and B complex. I'd like this to settle down so that can get back to my knitting. In the meantime I'll try some crossstitch and see if that gets around the pain.

Catching Up

2011-11-02T17:37:00.001-04:00

It's a new month and a new season and it's time to get started on new projects. First I thought I'd catch you up on some things I left hanging.

First, the Blues Brothers are settling in well. They eat a lot and play with the cage toys and make a lot of noise. As soon as I started calling them that, the names were obvious. The darker, noisier one, in the back, is Elwood and the lighter quieter one is Jake. They just polished off a bowl of diced apple, pumpkin and banana without throwing it to the dogs.

Holly is doing much better. She's come out of the corner, is eating and spends most of her time watching and hissing at the new noisy neighbors.

Morgan is just the sweetest little dog. Today she brought her ball to me and stood wagging her tail. How do I explain that it's going to be a long time till we can play ball again? Her leg seems to be healing pretty well. I've been able to cut back on her pain meds and she's walking now putting a little weight on the injured leg. She hates being carried and tries to beat me to the steps, but so far I've been able to grab her and lift her up the stairs.

Dr B thinks she's on schedule and this weekend we can start her physical therapy which consists of walking up and down the hill on leash. Going down is no problem, but walking uphill forces her to stretch out the muscles and work the leg a little.

Finally, my girl Samba. The MMM is currently under control and we've cut her prednisone back to a maintenance dose. She's using her jaw almost normally.

We've been unable to get rid of the kidney infection. I was given an option of using an injectable drug that would probably wipe out the infection, but I couldn't accept the side effects which include possible kidney damage and deafness. For now we'll continue to test regularly and possibly repeat the antibiotics.

As if all that wasn't enough, I discovered a large swelling on the tip of Samba's tail. At first I thought it might be a spider bite, but it didn't go away. I took her by the clinic and one of the techs thought the tail was fractured, but Dr B says it's scar tissue from an injury. Samba loves to bang her tail against doors and furniture and anything that makes a loud noise. Over the past few days the swelling seems to have come down a little and we're left with a crooked tail with a bump in it. We can live with that. As you can see in the short video above, Samba never stops wagging that tail.

So, on to a new month and we're going to try not to get any new injuries or illnesses.

Silver

2011-11-01T14:49:00.000-04:00

Last night we turned off the lights, secured Morgan and Tsar in the bedroom and turned the volume up on a station showing old reruns of 'Law and Order' to drown out any outside noises. Then Rob and I left the dogs home alone and went to our favorite restaurant for dinner. To surprise me, Rob had invited our good friends who are also our neighbors and we all had a special dinner.

The reason for our night out was that today is our 25th wedding anniversary. Wow, 25 years is a long time!

This is my favorite photo of my husband. This was taken Christmas day in 1997 at my Mother's house.

I guess I never expected to be married for 25 years.

But, how can you not love a man who helps your dog learn to play the piano?

Now on to the next twenty five.

He's Back!

2011-10-30T16:20:00.002-04:00

Look who's sitting on the swing. Mr Punkman is back.

He just disappeared after last Halloween and we haven't seen or heard from him and suddenly here he is.

Dad's moving him over to the steps so we can see him better.

Look everybody, he's back.

I can almost get my head inside him.

Dad's moving him again so that we can't chew on him. He's pretty tasty.

Look guys he's over here on the potting table.

We love you Mr Punkman.

Thanks, Dad, for finding Mr Punkman.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN from Morgan, Tsar and all the Porties.

The Blues Brothers

2011-10-29T11:51:00.000-04:00

People who say animals have no feelings annoy me. They more than annoy me, I think they have no brains. I'd like to take a few of them and lock them in a small room with a grieving Cockatiel that has just lost her best bird friend and make them listen to her mournful screeching for hours on end.

Holly continued to scream Thursday afternoon after seeing Cloud die. Finally I covered her and she quieted, but not before getting Samba very upset. Samba paced and whimpered and even peed on the carpet. It was much harder to calm her.

Rob and I discussed what our next move should be. We were concerned that when we uncovered Holly in the morning, she'd start screaming again when her friend wasn't in the cage next door to hers. Finally around 7 PM we drove to the pet shop.

Holly is too old now to put a young bird in with her, so we decided to get her a new parakeet friend and hope that they could bond. When we uncovered her cage Friday morning she immediately went over and looked at the floor of the cage where she'd last seen Cloud. Instead she saw the Blues Brothers.

All day Holly sat in the corner of her cage all puffed up. She refused to eat and didn't make a sound. I was getting concerned about her, but at bedtime she finally said 'hello' to me and I knew we were past the crisis. This morning she again hurried over and looked to where she'd last seen Cloud, but now she's starting to show some interest in the new birds. They're young and active and noisy and I'm sure they'll keep her entertained. Any ideas on names?

Cloud

2011-10-27T18:24:00.000-04:00

This afternoon Cloud flew across the Rainbow Bridge.

Her friend Holly started screeching and wouldn't stop. When I went to see what was bothering her, I found that Cloud had died. Holly is still very upset.

I don't remember exactly how old Cloud was, but I believe she was about nine years old. We will miss her sweet song in the mornings. Rest in peace little Cloudy one.

A Break In The Rain

2011-10-27T14:28:00.000-04:00

Finally yesterday afternoon the rain stopped long enough for us to have our party.

We took all eight of the PWDs into the back yard for Frosty Paws.

Rob commented that this is the longest time they're ever all quiet. We owe thanks to Purina for coming up with this treat that keeps their tongues busy for so long.

Everyone enjoyed their special treat.

Samba, as usual, was the first one finished.

Fudge was distracted, but eventually got thru his.

Sky was hoping for seconds.

Look at those dirty feet.

Bailey was the last one done.

Because Morgan is a little unsteady on just three legs, we let her have her treat on the porch where the pups wouldn't knock her down.

Tsar agreed to keep her company.

Everyone agreed that it was a good birthday. We wish you could have all been here to celebrate with us.

Five Years Old

2011-10-26T15:04:00.000-04:00

The pups are five today. Since they still act like puppies most of the time, it's easy to forget how much time has flown by. We do know that our lives were changed that cold October day in 2006. We're having a party a little later. Today it's raining for the first time in weeks so we're waiting to see if it clears up. If not, we'll party on the porch. Till then, here are some 'then and now' pictures of my furkids.

This was Samba the afternoon of October 25th. She was grabbing the last rest that she'd get for quite a while. Later the pups would arrive and nobody in the house would get any rest for weeks. She really doesn't look like she's carrying nine puppies, does she?

At 11:11 that night Tess was born. She weighed 9 ounces.

Here is Tess today.

At 12:28AM Sky was born weighing 8 ounces.

At 1:25 AM Lola arrived weighing in at 9.5 ounces.

At 1:58AM we welcomed Grace weighing 8 ounces.

Grace would go to live with J and Splash.

At 2:17AM Bailey arrived weighing in at 8 ounces.

At 2:36AM Indy was born weighing 8 ounces.

Indy would later go to live in Oklahoma and become Gib.

At 3:08 AM Noah came along weighing 6 ounces.

We had a bit of a wait while Samba rested, then at 5:18 puppy number 8 was born weighing 11 ounces,but there was a problem. His umbilical cord was torn and he was bleeding badly. Although we were able to stop the bleeding, he seemed to have suffered some brain damage and we were never able to get him to nurse. He wasn't breathing well and the next day we had him put down. The only picture that exists of him is this one.

He's the one in the upper left hand corner with the orange collar. He was the largest pup and had a lot of white markings.

At 6:40 AM Miss Norma Jean came along weighing in at 10 ounces. She was the last one born.

They were quite an active litter from day one and they haven't slowed down a bit.

Happy fifth birthday to my puppies. You have brought so much joy to my life. I can't imagine life without you in it.

Celebrate!!

2011-10-25T14:23:00.000-04:00

Wow, what a week full of happy occasions!

We have human friends celebrating birthdays and anniversaries.

And today is the birthday of Miss Tess. She was born a little before midnight, so she's a day older than the rest of us.

Because the other eight of us were born after midnight (Mom calls it the longest night she's even experienced) we'll have our big party tomorrow.

We hoped our friend Sissy could join us, but she'll be here in spirit. her Mom wouldn't let her borrow the car.

So all the rest of you, please join us tomorrow when we celebrate turning five years old. Tell your Mom that we said you need an extra cookie.

A Pink Reminder

2011-10-20T18:11:00.000-04:00

October is almost over, but Samba and I want to remind everyone that we need to be watching for signs of breast cancer every month.

We dressed in pink today as a reminder.

We had hoped that Morgan could join us, but she wasn't feeling up to it.

Samba's borrowed shirt on the front says "No, it's not a doodle".

On the back it says " It's the real thing, a Portuguese Water Dog".

Yesterday we took Samba with us to run some errands and someone asked if she was a 'doodle'. We used to get asked that all the time, but lately more people seem to be aware of Porties.

We Have Tag-Its

2011-10-18T14:49:00.000-04:00

The mail lady brought a box to the door and it was full of gifts for us. Mom got us something new to help keep us safe.

She bought us each a 'Tag-It'. That's a little thingie that looks like a teeny tiny dog collar, but she attached our ID and rabies tags on it and clipped it around our collars.

Mom says that now we can change collars for holidays without her breaking her nails moving our tags. If we go to a show, she can unclip our tags so that we don't disturb the judge and if we get too noisy at night she can snap the tags off so she can sleep.

She's been watching these Tag-Its for a long time and found them on different sites costing from $4 to $6. Last week she was shopping at her favorite store Amazon.com and she saw that they were on sale for $1.10. Mom said that was too good to pass up. The only thing is only the turquoise ones were on sale. That's OK, we like turquoise.

We think they're quite nice and Mom is happy so what more could a dog want?

A Friend In Need

2011-10-16T13:39:00.000-04:00

Fudge can be a pain in the butt. His ego is very large and he delights in shoving the other dogs out of the way to get extra attention, but lately we've seen another side to his personality.

It's been two weeks since Morgan tore her ACL and we've all made adjustments to accommodate her injury. Either Rob or I are with her at all times to make sure she stays quiet. When we both have to leave the house, Tsar babysits her. He's well compensated for his service.

Fudge has been bringing toys to Morgan trying to interest her in playing, but her pain medication keeps her lightly sedated and she hasn't shown any interest in toys. He even brought his favorite ball over and left it beside her as she slept.

Several times a day Fudge sniffs Morgan's sore leg. I wonder if it smells different now that it's injured.

Now in the evenings when we're all gathered in the living room, Fudge settles down next to Morgan and sometimes even rests his head on her back as if to reassure her.

It's obvious that he's concerned about her. So even a narcissistic little guy like Fudge can show compassion for an injured pack mate.

Attention All Pups!

2011-10-14T22:23:00.002-04:00

Mom got an email this week with an important announcement for all of us. Did you know that October is 'Squirrel Awareness Month'? That's what Three Dog Bakery says.

We thought every month was squirrel awareness month.

Morgan is our chief sq watcher, but she's out of commission for a while, so we're all keeping our eyes open for the little pests.

We know that a lot of our good blogging friends are sq watchers, too, like Zona and Bella and Thunder and Mitch. Come to think of it, most all of you are devoted sq watchers.

So, stay on the alert everyone, because these guys are everywhere and they show no respect for us dogs. They invade our yards and they sit in the trees and shout at us. We need to spread the word that every day of every month is Squirrel Awareness Day.

A Special Day For Us

2011-10-13T21:14:00.000-04:00

Friday, October 14 is 'I Love Yarn Day'.

This holiday was made for me and many of my friends.

If you have boxes and or bags of yarn in every room, this is your holiday.

If you have yarn in closets and cabinets, this is your holiday.

If you have yarn stashed under the bed and behind the sofa, this is your holiday.

If even with yarn all over the house, you can't resist buying more, this is our holiday.

Why is yarn even more addictive than chocolate?

Going Pink

2011-10-08T11:59:00.001-04:00

We all know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Our Mom's bestest friend is a survivor and so is one of our favorite vet techs.

Even our Mom has had two biopsies which were both negative.

One of Mom's dogs that she had years ago had a partial mastectomy, so you see that bad cancer stuff can touch everyone. We bet you know someone who has been touched by it, too.

So we fly our pink flag and Mom checks us regularly.

If you haven't had your mammogram, call and schedule it. It only takes a few minutes and it can save your life. And call a friend and remind her to schedule hers. It could be the best gift you ever give her.