The Easter Bunny Came To Our Yard

Happy Easter everyone. We want to invite you to our 6th Annual Easter Something Hunt. But first we have an important message. We got word last night that our friend Jed (from Jed and Abby in Merryland) has been diagnosed with Eosinophalic Masticatory Myositis which is also known as masticatory muscle myositis and is the same disease that our Samba suffers with.

Jed's Mom and I have been in touch and if we can help them thru this, we'll sure try. Jed could use the Power Of The Paw right about now. POTP has sure gotten a workout lately. Jed and Abby don't have a blog, but they do check in with us, so I'll relay any messages you might want to send them.

Now for the hunt!  Rob and I have been doing this on and off for 15 years with many different dogs and it's something they all seem to enjoy. This year we were presented with a new challenge. Morgan and Tsar are too old and delicate to take part in the hunt with all the enthusiastic Water Dogs. We didn't want them getting knocked down or having to fight for a treat, so they had their own hunt before the others.

Morgan and Tsar were happy to get to play and came into the front yard not knowing what to expect.

What's that on the rock? It's a piece of Beggin Strips. Bacon is Morgan's favorite food and we wanted something easy for the old timers to find and something tasty for them to enjoy.

Tsar found one right away. As you can see they weren't hidden well. Tsar is too weak to spend a lot of time hunting for hidden treats, so these were hidden in plain sight.

Morgan spotted the one on the rock.

These two quickly got the idea and kept us running from treat to treat.

I'm really glad these two older, unwell dogs were able to participate in something fun.

Morgan was sorry to see that all the bacon had been found.

Next it was on to the back yard where the more active group waited. They were confined to the garage while Rob and I "hid" the treats. In years past we've used dog biscuits of various types and they all worked well. Last time we hid carrots and though they were eventually found, it was much harder for the dogs. Apparently carrots don't have much of an odor to guide them. This year we got creative and decided on cheese balls.

Instead of actually hiding them, we tossed some into the grass. No we didn't use the whole jar. There will be many other parties using the rest of the cheese balls. We thought the bright color and cheesy smell would make it easy to find them. We were wrong.

 Release the hounds!

They came charging out into the yard, but ran right over the cheese balls. We had to point them out, then the dogs got the idea and the hunt was on.

I'm always surprised by how quickly dogs catch on to this exercise. But I'm also always surprised that some dogs just never do figure it out. Tess has never been able to catch the concept behind this hunt. Every year we escort her to a hidden treat and point it out to her. She'll eat it, then look up at us totally

confused as to what to do next.

 If she does manage to spot a treat by herself, she usually loses it to a quicker dog.

 No one else had any trouble gobbling up lots of cheese balls.

 I finally broke down and fed Tess some cheese balls. I couldn't stand seeing her so dejected while her pack mates were having so much fun.

The cheese balls were disappearing and everyone was starting to head back to the house.

But there was still one left in the grass and look who found it, all by herself. Tess was our big winner. She only found one cheese ball, but she did it without any help.

What a fun day. We hope the Easter bunny brought something fun to your house.

End Of A Long Week

Well, we managed to get thru it once again. Those group vet visits are rough. The dogs seem to enjoy the chance to go visit with their friends, but I  can't relax till they've all been there, and all the lab reports are back. This year everyone did really well. There was just one scare. Dr B wasn't there when I stopped by to pick up the reports for the three girls and Lola's lab work showed lots of red. Several of her liver values were high. Also there was another line on the report that was off on all three girls.

I slept badly last night and called Dr B first thing this morning. He just laughed and told me that is is one of those times when it pays to know your patient. All the things that showed up on the reports were due to their highly excited state. Their temperatures were high and they were panting so hard and busy twirling that they caused some of their labs to be skewed. Lola was the worst so we'll recheck her liver values in about three months.

Tsar's arrow this week is up and down. His legs are weaker and he needs help getting up more often than he did just a week ago. He also stumbles occasionally on the front steps. However, he's still sharp and can manage to get to his feet when he thinks a cookie might become available. He's interested in searching for lizards around the rocks and I try to limit his time outside because he tires easily. Dr B warned me again this week that Tsar will have bad days and not to obsess over them, but to watch for trends instead.

We wish you all a happy Passover or Easter or anything else you may choose to celebrate and look forward to our annual Easter Biscuit Hunt this weekend.

Stop Cruelty To Animals

Hi Everybody, Fudge here with an important message. April is Prevent Cruelty To Animals month. We're joining with a lot of our friends to fight cruelty. Miss Ann at Zoolatry sent us this pretty badge. And our friend Mitch has posted about it, too.

Samba and I dressed up in orange to remind you that not all pets live in happy homes where they're loved and well cared for. Some pets have very hard, unhappy and painful lives.

Mom and Dad know a lot about animal cruelty because they used to rescue abused and neglected puppies. It's hard for us to believe that people would hurt a little puppy, but it happens way too often.


Pylon was thrown away when she was just a baby, because she was "too much trouble". She was actually thrown out the window of a moving car. All her life she was afraid to get in a car. She never got to enjoy going for a ride like we do.

Our big brother Monty was the worst case Mom and Dad had. He had been terribly beaten when they  brought him home. He was afraid to let anyone touch him and he never really got over it. It took months for him to let Mom just touch his head. He had to have operations on his ears to repair some of the damage and he always had some nerve damage in his face.

There are lots of different kinds of abuse, not just hitting. There are doggies tied in yards without shelter from the weather and without clean drinking water. There are doggies that don't get enough to eat.  Morgan was one of those dogs. When she was a baby, the family that had her didn't pay any attention to her and they didn't give her enough to eat. But today Morgan is happy and gets good food and even treats.

We all have to work hard to stop cruelty and report it when we see it. You can go to the ASPCA website to find ways you can help fight for us. Won't you please join us, it's very important.

Thanks, your friend, Fudge

Girls Day Out

Hi everybody, this is Norma Jean reporting. Yesterday our brothers and Bailey went for their checkups, so today was our turn. My sisters Tess and Lola and I knew we were going to visit Dr B so we were all excited. Mom told us to be good girls this morning, but we forgot and we jumped in our little pool and splashed before our appointment so Dr B got to examine wet doggies today. He just laughed. Lola went first and the doctor checked out a cyst on her back. He told Mom to watch it and let him know if it grows. He said Lola's weight was good, but not to gain any and he said her teeth were perfect. She got a couple shots, but when he started to take her blood, she got a bad case of the wiggles. He managed to get just enough and let her off the table.

Mom planned to take the three of us together because Tessie gets really scared at the doctor's office and Lola and I are her bestest friends. Mom thought she wouldn't be so scared if we were with her, but it didn't work. Tessie was really scared and when the doctor put her on the table I don't think she moved a muscle. I think maybe she held her breath all the time she was on the table. He said she needs to lose a couple pounds and her teeth need some work, but otherwise she's in fine shape. Poor Tess never moved when he took her blood and gave her the shots. She was so happy to get down and wanted to leave. Instead Dad gave her a drink of water and she sat down next to him.

Then it was my turn. I like the doctor and I think he likes me, too. He said I could lose a couple pounds, but my teeth look good. He also said that I 'm the best muscled of all of us except Fudge. I think it's because I swim and jump a lot. I wiggled a little when he took blood because I was trying to kiss him, but he got it anyway and I didn't mind the shots at all.

When Mom got home, she said she was tired. Dad took her out to have a late lunch. She said she'd like one of these when they got back, but it's her headache season, so she can't. 

Instead she had these.

Here's Mom...


The boy's bloodwork was back from the lab and they were all perfect. This was a great annual visit. The doctor found nothing worrisome. We'll be brushing more teeth and watching a few cysts, but other than that we're set for a super summer.

Dr B, Here We Come

Today was a big day for us. Some of us got to visit Dr B. Mom always gets nervous about it, but we love to pile into the car and look out the windows as we ride along. Then when we get to the clinic we like to greet everybody in the waiting room. Sometimes the ladies give us cookies.

Then we all go into the big room with the table that goes up and down. We know how to make it do that, but Dr B doesn't like us doing it. 

First our nurse Kayla came in and weighed us and took our temperatures. She gets kind of personal when she does that, but she's nice about it.

Next Dr B comes in and talks to all of us. Then he asks for a volunteer. Non of us stepped forward so he chose Bailey to go first. She did really good except she licked his face a couple times. Bailey didn't like having the doctor steal her blood. She thinks she needs it all, but he only took a little. Then she got a couple shots, they didn't bother her. She has a couple little cysts that Mom has to watch and she also has to lose two more pounds. She already lost four pounds, but Dr B likes us to be slim and trim.

Next Noah was drafted. He was a good boy and only squirmed a little when Dr B took his blood. He didn't mind getting his shots and Dr B said his weight is perfect. Good for Noah!! He didn't have any bumps to look at, but Mom needs to start brushing his teeth. Oh well, she's used to brushing Fudge's, so why not do Noah, too.

Finally the doctor said, Sky! It was my turn.  I didn't squirm at all when they stole my blood and I didn't even blink when I got my shots. I had a couple of little cysts, nothing important. My weight is perfect, but Mom needs to do my teeth, too, so we'll just have a big tooth brushing party.

Our blood reports will come back tomorrow and we think they'll be perfect, too. Tomorrow three more of us will go see the doctor. Then Mom can relax again.

Our Version of A Popular Game

Are you familiar with the game 'Where's Waldo'?  A few years ago it was popular.  For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, this is Waldo.

There were books of scenes such as this and the object was to locate Waldo in the confusing scene.

We play our own version of this annoying game almost every evening. Ours is called 'Where's Morgan'. It works something like this. Morgan gets sleepy early. Remember, she's twelve years old now. I used to have a dog named Libby who would go to the bedroom by herself and curl up in her bed. She raised her head to acknowledge me when I came to bed hours later.

Morgan doesn't do that. She wants to go to sleep, but doesn't want to miss out on the possibility of a late night snack, so she finds a comfy spot to snooze where she can keep track of the rest of us. When I get ready to head upstairs to bed I look around for Morgan and sometimes I have trouble spotting her.

This is Morgan's favorite place to catch some sleep and be out of the way so she doesn't get bumped or stepped on. She blends in amazingly well with her fluffy friends.

It doesn't work  for everyone. Samba and the others don't blend in nearly as well.