Splashing Around

Hi, remember us? The weather finally broke and we've been spending lots of time outside playing. I've been too lazy or tired at the end of the day to sit at the computer, but now I'm getting back in the groove. So what have we been up to?

Well, on Wednesday we took Lola and Norma Jean to the lake. We went first to meet Splash, Grace and Runtley, then we all headed for the boat. Lola has never been fond of the water, but this summer she's been jumping into the wading pool, so we thought maybe she'd follow Norma Jean's example and swim in the lake.

Even before we'd tied the boat up, Norma Jean was in the water. She went for a swim before we unpacked the toys. That girl is a true water dog.

Grace and Splash can't get enough of the water and you arm will tire from throwing the toys before they give up.

Splash, as the only boy, had to show off for the girls.

Can you see why he's called Splash?

I really enjoyed watching Miss Runtley. She's very attached to her tiny tennis ball and if someone throws it in the water, it's her duty to rescue it. She's swimming out farther than she did last summer.

Lola was fascinated with Runtley and followed her all around. She splashed around a little, but she got uneasy when she couldn't touch bottom. Rob did encourage her out to swim a couple times, but she needs to work on her confidence a little more. I don't think she'll ever love the water as Norma Jean does.

At the end of the day we had some tired dogs. Mine slept all the way home in the back of the car.

Pool Cool

Guess what!! It isn't 100+ degrees today. We had a storm and today it's only mid 80s. When we went outside we felt more like playing.  There's our little pool, all filled with water.

Oh oh, it looks like Bailey's duck broke one of the rules. We're not allowed to play in water unless Mom or Dad is around. Duck must have hidden from Bailey and stayed outside by himself to go swimming.

One dog.

Two dogs.

Three dogs.

Sky wanted to play ball.

But Mom thought up a new game. She tossed the ball into the pool.

Oh boy, that looks like fun. Who'll get the ball out of the water?

No problem, that's an easy game for a water dog.

Fudge saved the ball.

And so did Samba.

Then we waded a little to get good and wet.

Sebastian doesn't like the water, so he rested and watched us. 

He and Norma Jean kept their eyes on Bailey's friends, Duck and Teddy. They were waiting in the shade.

We sure wish it would get cooler so we could play outside more and we'd be really happy if it snowed.

Woofers and Tweeters

My grandfather was an engineer and he loved music. We always had music playing in the house when I was growing up. With the first paycheck I earned, he took me to buy my own new stereo. While he chatted with the salesman about woofers and tweeters, I picked out the one that I felt looked best and had the features I wanted.

Today we have radios and cd players and Ipods, but I still have a couple stereos, one in the living room and one in the bedroom and we have a huge collection of records. I have a house full of music.

But as you all know I also have a house full of woofers and tweeters of another sort. When we brought the three new birds home we were concerned as to whether they'd all get along. Then we had a bigger concern. Caulder spent the first two days here sitting on the floor of the cage, trembling. We were both afraid that we'd chosen another sick bird. The answer is Calder was young and frightened and now they all get along very well. In fact they're so noisy that at times I have to cover them to shut them up. I found out today that pointing a camera at them also shuts them up. Here they are in action.

Elwood enjoys the company of his three roommates and is especially fond of Stanley.  Norris is just happy and sings all the time (except when I want to film them singing). Calder, the fraidy bird, has turned into destructo bird. His mission seems to be to chew apart every toy and try to take the cage apart all the while screeching at the top of his lungs.

Noah and I want to thank all of you for your crossed paws and good wishes. He's feeling much better. Apparently he did pull something in his lower back, but his pills have made him feel like a new dog. He'll be taking them for the rest of the week, then we'll see if the pain is gone.

Meanwhile, Sebastian is fitting in perfectly with this group. When Fudge tries to bully him, he just walks away and when the girls ask him to play he's only too happy to chase them. He sleeps in a chair, eats two meals a day with snacks and has a couple to toys to play with. Who could ask for more?

And me? I'm very happy with all my woofers and tweeters and the strange music they make.

Medical Update

It seems like the right time to give a medical update.

In the spring we had lots of foot injuries. Lola had a bite on her toe that swelled up to an enormous size. She's all healed now and back to racing around the yard.

Bailey had a pulled muscle in her leg and was on rest and pain killers for a couple weeks. She's as good as new now.

Samba had several things going on. First was a toe injury, then another foot had a cyst between the toes. She promised not to chew on her feet if I removed the hat and she has been a very good girl. Her feet are all doing well.

Samba also beat up her tail and caused lots of blood to fly around. Learning to bandage a tail was a new experience. My attempts didn't work too well, but Dr B showed me the secret of keeping a tail bandage on the tail. Now her tail is healed and wagging freely again.

Morgan has had the worst time of all. She has torn the cruciate ligaments in both knees. Her left leg is still pretty weak, but she's been given the go ahead to start therapy. That means I can start walking up and down the hill with her, weather permitting. We don't do this in 100 degree heat, so maybe evenings. We can only do one trip up the hill to start and gradually increase the number of climbs. She says she's ready.

Speaking of Miss Morgan, we had bad news in May. Her blood test showed that her liver disease was getting worse. Two of her enzymes were very high. We started her on Denamarin which is a combination of SamE and silybin. I give it to her each morning a couple hours before she eats. On Wednesday she had her three month checkup and a blood test. One of the two liver enzymes had come down a lot and the other was normal. Yeah, Morgan !!! You are my Energizer Bunny Dog. Even Dr B said she must be part cat with nine lives.

Sebastian went to the doctor this week, too. He had a Lyme booster and had to have his skin checked. He's very itchy and has a couple of sores on his skin that he won't leave alone. He'll be getting a medicated bath this weekend and we're increasing his antihistamines and fish oil. It may take a little time to get his skin back in condition after his adventures on the road, but we're working on it.

Not all the news is good. Last nigh Noah began acting strangely. He paced all night, whimpering or barking at intervals. Rob and I took turns sitting up with him. This morning I noticed that he was stumbling on the stairs and he walked into the wall a couple times.

I called the clinic as soon as they opened and they took us right in. Dr B says there's some weakness in Noah's back end and though his eyes look OK inside, his pupils aren't reacting normally. His guess is that Noah's in pain and probably has injured his back. He can't rule out poisoning however.

We're going to handle this in a certain order. First he prescribed pain pills and muscle relaxants. If that doesn't work or he gets worse, we'll do blood tests. We came home and I gave Noah his meds. He continued to pace, then after about an hour he laid down and fell asleep. It's the first time he's stopped pacing since 7 last night. He's still asleep and Rob and I are going to try to catch up on some of that lost sleep, too.

So, it's mostly wonderful news with a little excitement thrown in. That's life with dogs.

Dying Of Thirst

Drought is a terrible thing. It's been a hot, dry summer in many places. I know we're not alone, but that doesn't make it any easier. We've had only a sprinkle of rain in over two months and there's none in the forecast. Still, looking at forecasts and temperature records doesn't give a real idea of what drought looks like.

No this isn't straw that we've spread on the ground. This is the grass in our front yard. It's crunchy when you walk on it.

Last year our Crepe Myrtle looked like this.

Now it looks like this.

In March our cherry tree was beautiful in bloom.

Now it's in real trouble.

The Forsythia last year.

The Forsythia now.

These guys have disappeared. We hope they're hiding underground. We've seen no toads or frogs this summer at all. Very unusual.

But not everything is dying. Some plants are thriving in the yard.

Some insects are doing well, too. The dragonflies are swarming in the yard and we and the dogs are getting used to being hit by them as they fly in circles.

The ticks are thriving. We had a warm winter followed by at hot dry spring and summer and ticks love that weather pattern. We're taking extra precautions to protect the dogs.

We're also trying to help out the wildlife that is suffering from the heat. The birds are enjoying the fountain for drinks and quick baths. We're see the squirrels drinking from the fountain, too and one day I watched a small lizard climb up for a drink.

We hope that Mother Nature gets over this bad mood that she's been in and brings us some cooler temperatures and some days of nice steady rain. No thunder, please.

Bringing Home The Gold

We did it! Our one and only entry in the Blogville Games earned us a gold medal.

Samba's super style in frisbee put us in the record books.

Thanks to the organizers and especially to the event host, Mr Pip.

Be sure and catch the rest of the games. The events are so exciting.