Happy Eyes

It was two years ago last month that Noah's eyes were a problem. He had a reaction to an antibiotic that left him squinting and rubbing his very goopy left eye. When Dr B tested it for dryness  we were hoping for a result of 12, but got only a six. That meant he needed treatment.

We tried several different drops, but he couldn't tolerate any of them. I was really worried that the boy would lose his vision in that eye. Finally we tried Optimune which is the canine version of Restasis. It worked for him. He tolerated it very well and his eye started to heal.

At first he needed the ointment twice a day in his eye. After about a year I carefully started cutting back to once a day. Then when he was still doing well, I cut back on the amount I was using. Still no problem. Then a couple months ago I started skipping Saturdays. Still no problem.

Then suddenly on Monday I noticed that his right eye was goopy. Oh no! On Tuesday when it was even worse, we went to visit Dr B. We were both afraid that the dry eye condition was now in both eyes.

First he did a dryness test on the left eye. We were amazed at the reading...16!!! Twelve is considered normal. Noah's is perfect. With the help of the Optimune, he's producing tears. He'll need to continue the drug for his lifetime, but we know that it's working. The right eye only tested at 11, which isn't really bad. Dr B felt pretty sure that it was a minor infection and sent us home with some antibiotic drops to use for a week.

It hasn't been a week yet, but Noah has two happy looking eyes now. No goop, no squinting and no rubbing. I am so relieved that the dryness isn't a problem. Noah, Norma Jean, Tess and Sebastian all love to roll in the dirt in the back yard and I'm sure they occasionally get some in their eyes. Each has been treated for an eye infection at one time or another. We'll just watch them closely.

I know you're going to say, but you can't even see Noah's eyes. Well, Mom sees everything.

Superbowl Star

We're not a football household and tonight we'll skip the televised football game. But, with all the hoopla surrounding this game, we checked with the pack and found that we have our own Superbowl Star, Miss Mackey.

She might be little, but she's fast and ferocious and she doesn't give up.

 So we have named her our game M.V.P. (most valuable pup).

And what about after the game? Snacks, of course.

Happy Superbowl Sunday, everyone.

Mom and Me

I love my Mom. She and I do lots of fun stuff together. We used to go to dog shows together and we went to school together and we even did Rally together.

 Now things are a little different. Since my stroke I can't run and move around as easily as I used to, but Mom and I have other things to do together. I help her cook and she says I've gained too much weight over the last few months so now we're dieting together.

A couple days ago Dad said I smelled stinky so when Mom took her shower, she invited me to shower with her. It wasn't exactly fun, what bath or shower ever is, but afterwards Dad said I smelled a whole lot better.

I climb up on Mom's lap every evening and cuddle with her for awhile and in the morning I get on the bed and sleep with my head on her leg. She's always been there for me when I needed her and I want her to know how much I appreciate her.

She had a birthday a couple days ago and a friend gave her some homemade cupcakes. Last night she put extra sprinkles on one and shared it with me. She knows how much I love sprinkles.

 She said that this weekend she and I can go for a little short walk on the trail behind our house. She knew I wanted to go on the big walk a couple weeks ago when all the peeps wore their pink hats but I can't walk that much and she was afraid I'd get hurt. She lets me wear her hat though.

Moms are special peeps and every day we should remember to tell them how much we love them.
Your pal, Fudge 

Winter Skin

Hi Everybody,
This has been another crazy winter, hot one day and freezing the next. Mom tells us some days that it's too cold to play outside, then she says, "Don't worry, tomorrow will be warm and you can stay out for a long time."  We had lots of ice a couple weeks ago, so when it all melted, it left lots of mud and Norma Jean and Sebastian have been rolling in the mud almost every day. Mom says that those two are her itchy kids.

Sebastian and Norma Jean have the 'winter itchies'. Mom says that the dry indoor heat causes their skin to itch and their furs to get dry. She says it happens to peeps in the winter too. She gives them extra fish oil and Benedryl to help them. But now, thanks to Chewy, she found another way to help.

Earlier this month when our Chewy box arrived, there was a mistake. Someone had sent us cat treats instead of dog treats. When Miss Natalie found out, she sent us a bag of dog treats and they are especially good ones for the itchy guys.

We received Halo Healthsome Skin and Coat treats with wild salmon. We've tried Halo food before and loved it, but these are super good. These are made with wild salmon, a natural source of omega oils. They have lots of healthy ingredients  but also contain salmon oil, soybean oil, wheat germ oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, anise oil, garlic oil and cod liver oil. Boy, that's a lot of oils but Mom says that they help prevent our skin from getting dry and keep our furs looking shiny.

They taste good, too. 

That's the most important part, right?

These biscuits are a nice size, but mean Mom snapped them in half. Oh well, more for later.

If you have the winter itchies, try these great treats. Just call Chewy and tell them we sent you.

Oh by the way, Chewy sent us this bag of Halo treats at no cost to us in exchange for an honest review. We loved the taste and Mom liked the oils. Win-win.

Your pal Fudge

Guess What Happened

Hi Everybody,
This afternoon the rain stopped, after four long, dark, wet days.

Then the sun came out. So what did we do?

We had a party.

Hang on everybody, Spring is coming.
Your pal, Fudge

Why?

Our weather man is notoriously bad. He'll tell us it's raining when the sun is shining brightly. He'll say the high temp will be 70 and it goes to 90. One day he actually said that you never see clouds in the summer. What???

Yesterday he said that we'd get an ice storm starting just after midnight. When I got up with the dogs at 6AM it was raining but seemed like it had just started. The rain was freezing as it hit the ground. I hurried everyone out, back in and then back to bed.

When we got up again a couple hours later, we found this.

It was raining so hard and freezing immediately, that the dogs didn't want to go out.

At 9AM, as Rob and I were sitting down to breakfast, the power went off.

 The dogs were nervous and I was worried about facing days of darkness again, but the power came back on after two and a half hours.

The rain has almost stopped, but this is what the yard looks like. Wish us luck.

Why did that stupid weather man have to be right this time?

Forecast of What??

January 12, 2007 was a pretty good day. It was a Friday and I had my left wrist in a cast because I had slipped on some black ice in mid December and fractured it. Other than that things were going smoothly. As smoothly as things go when you have six dogs and eight puppies in the house.

In the afternoon it started to rain but the pups were doing well with their house training, so after dinner I took them all outside for a post dinner scramble in the yard. We didn't stay long because it was still raining and the temperature was dropping. Still I wanted them to have the chance to get outside.

At 6:20, just as we were coming inside, the electricity went out. The rain continued and the temperature continued to drop. Ice started covering everything.

The power stayed out for 12 days.

Have you ever tried living with a no electricity, no heat, no hot water, no cell phone or computer, or television, with fourteen dogs, six birds and a broken wrist for 12 days?

We were actually the lucky ones because we had a gas stove in the basement, so we were able to stay in the house and keep the pups and birds warm. Most of our neighbors left to stay with family or friends.

24 hours a day it sounded like a war zone as the trees cracked and came crashing to the ground. The  big dogs were only allowed out for seconds at a time and the pups couldn't go out at all because of the possible danger of trees falling on them.

This is our neighborhood.

 This is the house across the street.

This is our house and yard.

 The pups wanted to run and play, so for several hours a day we allowed them free run of the kitchen. I felt like I was on constant mop duty.

 Then just when I thought I wouldn't survive another day, the power came back on and the cleanup began.

Today is the tenth anniversary of that awful experience. Yesterday it was 70 degrees here. Today the forecast is for ice!!!