Welcoming 2008

I actually got out of the house today- with Miss Precious, Riley, and Sabrina all in the car. It is clear to me now that I need a bigger car for all of us! We took a nice brisk walk at the park so that I could feel like a person again and Riley could enjoy the last snow of 2007. It has been a record month in Massachusetts for snow!
The amazing thing is, today was Miss Precious' original due date. And here I am out with a 6 week old infant at the park!

Adjusting to Life with Miss Precious

I made it back before an entire month has passed. Miss Precious is 1 month old and everyone is adjusting well. A few quick updates:

I have learned to be a pretty good one-handed typist.

Riley and Sabrina came home two weeks after Miss Precious was born and just four days after she came home from the hospital. Thanks to Aunt Dory!

Riley and Sabrina have adjusted quite well to the new addition to the pack.

Riley has a new nickname: The General. He feels the need to guard and protect the new little one. If she cries, he comes running. If she cries continuously, he parks himself down in a sit stay and stays guard until she stops. And then he insists on doing his personal body check on her. From head to toe. No kidding!

Sabrina has realized that our usual walking routines have been switched. She now follows the Dogfather around the house, waiting for him to take her to the park. Didn't take long.

Besides disrupting her daily walking routine, Sabrina doesn't seem to have noticed any other change in the household. She will, however, come over to lick Miss Precious on the head gingerly or snuggle up to her in our Big Bed.

The Big Bed has gotten Very Full. Every night, it holds the Dogfather, myself, Miss Precious, Sabrina, and Mei Mei. Luckily our other two furchildren haven't felt the need to join us in bed too. And luckily we have a generously sized king bed.

I have been able to escape from the house twice so far to take my beloved fur children to the park to romp in the snow. What a treat! I hope to get out sometime today too.

I cannot wait to bring Miss Precious out to hike with the dogs.

Miss Precious calls...must go!

On Maternity Leave

Looks like I will be taking an early leave of absence from the Bernerbuddy Blog. Our first non-furkid arrived on Sunday at 6:23 pm. Miss Precious was 6 weeks early! Poor Riley and Sabrina have noooo idea what they're in store for. They think they're just on vacation with Auntie Dory. Sabrina has Agave to play with everyday and Riley is happy to get a break from Sabrina's antics. We haven't quite figured out if we want Miss Precious to come home first and get settled or let the fur kids come home first. Lots of decisions to make for all the kids. One thing's for sure, the kitties are quite delighted not to have the big canines around. MeiMei gets our whole bed to herself and Little Li doesn't have to find safe perching spots from Sabrina. Boy is everyone in for a shocker when Miss Precious comes home!

Tragedy On Our Street

Last night tragedy struck and took a small, but meaningful life.

Someone we did not know. A sweet, four-legged fur friend we never met. And a car at night.

The little white furfriend has now journeyed on over the Rainbow Bridge.

Although none of us knew each other, our lives are all changed forever.

RIP little fur-child.

Rockie Needs a Home

*Permission to cross post here in search of a potential new owner for this spitfire lil girl*

Know anyone who might be interested in a no-vax, raw fed, homeopathic
& chiropractic treated Toller puppy girl? That's a Nova Scotia Duck
Tolling Retriever, for those who have no clue what a Toller is.

This is a pic of "Rockie" at 7 weeks.



I have a pup born on July 25. Who really deserves to be in a forever
home at this point. Even though she is my comic relief and a blast
to have around. I held her back until I had a better handle on her
personality. Specifically her livability factor. She is a real spit-
fire and very independent. Her half brother was the same way at her
age but is now super easy to live with. I feel she is following the
same path. Phew!

We call her Rockie Balboa because she was the underdog of this
litter. She just never realized it. She was half the size of her
littermates. But ran the pack from day one. 1st one to the milk bar
and last to leave. Wiggling her way past all her amazon siblings to
get to the best faucet. Type of stuff. I've yet to find something
she's afraid of. She plays hard core tug with the big dogs. The
fact she is a fraction of their size makes no difference to her.
She's a tough cookie but has a soft obedient side too.

Picture of Mom, Buddie, and her litter.


I feel Rockie can best make her mark in the world doing something
which uses her body and brain. She seems to have the
body/mind/spirit for frisbee, agility, flyball, field, etc. Her
attention span is excellent and she has good eye contact for
obedience.

She should be showable, if she can stretch to 17" high. Height is in
her pedigree, but she looks petite at this point. Her size should
serve her well in athletic events, but might make it harder to get
points in the show ring. She's got the type of body that can take a
licking and keep on ticking. With regular chiropractic care, of
course. Her "expensive" clearance is done. She's PRA and CEA
clear.

She is a raw feeders dream. Especially those who like to feed real
prey model. I've yet to find a food she won't dig into with gusto.
And process beautifully. She's been under the care of Dr Jeff
Feinman since birth and already has her case started. He also treats
her mom, 1 littermate, and 2 half brothers. IOW's, a homeopathic
history exists which makes case management soooo much easier if you
use homeopathy as your primary healing modality.

My ideal home would be holistically minded, who will continue what I
started. With a lifestyle to keep her brain and body busy. Ideally
with other dogs. Where the humans knows how to be an effective
packleaders.

If anyone is interested, or knows anyone interested, I can be reached
at 978-465-2661

TIA,

Deena Mottola
PortStar Tollers

We Need a Mommy Cam

Or shall I say- Doggy Cam. Or maybe it's a Kitty Kam.

It's hard to say what our furkids do all day while we are away besides bark when the mailman or Man in the Brown Suit arrives. I used to be convinced that Riley was an angel while we were away. He never did anything distructive as a puppy. Yes, a few shredded books here, a potty accident there, but nothing like what Sabrina did.

As I mentioned in a previous post, SOMEONE has been on the leather couch. So far, the sniff test has only revealed Riley as the culprit. However, the sniff test is not quite so reliable when the only parts touching the couch are paws. I refuse to go around sniffing all 16 paws to see whom is leaving paw indentations on the sofa!

This dilemma has required some problem-solving as well as some sleuthing. Come with me as I slip back into the days when I pretended I was Nancy Drew. Nancy always cracked her cases.

Sabrina, luckily, can safely be eliminated as a possible culpirt. Recently, we have taught Sabrina to remain on a tie-down in the house. When we are home, she is constantly in front of us or circling us. And if it's neither of the two, then she's tripping you. I simply had to break her of that habit or I could see myself tumbling down the stairs with an infant in my arms. And then DSS would come to my house and have me arrested. So I have taught her to stay in the room or in a nearby room and stay calmly on a 4 foot tie-down. We are delighted that we did not have to resort to crating her. We can now leave her on a tie down all day while we are at work and she has been incident free for a week now!

So that leaves Little 7 pound Li, big Tank MeiMei, and the Bernerbuddy. So I purchsed a Scat Mat, made by SmartPak.



Just imagine a tri-colored dog there instead of the golden.

The Scat Mat has 3 settings. Low, medium, and high. The first time I set it up, it said low for small pets like cats or short haired animals. Not wanting to send my kitties into a seizure, I left it on low. I even tried it out myself. It's like a really good carpet shock. I came home and checked how many times it had been activated. EIGHT TIMES?! The next day it went up to High. We continue to get an average of 6 activations a day! Somebody does not mind being shocked and it must be one big, hairy animal...hmmmmmmm...Nancy Drew, what do you think?

Riley's Back!!!

Every Sunday, Sabrina walk at the Paine house with a large pack of hounds and their peeps. Sabrina's fur friend, Bandit (aka Mr. Stubbs), and his person have been joining us. It is a nice pack of dogs that all get along and Sabrina and Bandit get a great fun filled morning that leaves them sleeping for hours afterwards.

Yesterday morning was Riley's first morning back with the pack. He hasn't been seen for almost 4 months and boy was everyone happy to see him. I kept him on a leash, of course, as he was very fresh and quite exhuberent. But it was a great moment all the same. We decided to take it easy and walk apart from the group and Riley was allowed about 20 minutes of off leash time. He did wonderful! I am so grateful that he has two good knees to enjoy the rest of his doggy days on.

We really have to thank the most wonderful doggie chiropractor in Framingham for taking good care of him and helping him along his recovery. The practice includes humans, horses, and dogs. Last week, I started my first treatments with one of the chiropractors there and I could not be more happy with the results. Riley got his adjustment first, and then it was my turn! We are treated in different areas of the practice, of course, but I can't help but to get tickled by the fact that my dog and I see the same chiropractor! In fact, Mr. Stubbs himself is going to see him next week too about some "growing pains."

Don't we love our hounds or what?!

Next week, our other fur friend (or shall I say furless 4 legged friend), Mr. Hercules, will be joining our walking pack as well. He is a hariless Chinese Crested. He kinda looks like this photo of the breed, but in my opinion of hairless dogs, he's actually a lot better looking than most of the pictures I've seen.

Smell Him, Smeeeeeell HIM!

Last night's good night hug with the Bernerbuddy revealed that HE HAS BEEN SLEEPING ON THE LEATHER SOFA!!! I buried my nose deep into his soft curls on his head and took my regular deep whiff of Bernerness and there it hit me. Leather? My Berner Bobos smells like leather? I whipped around (as well as woman in her 8th month of pregginess could whip around) and commanded at the Dogfather, "Smell him, smeeeeeell HIM!" And he confirmed that Riley smelled like the new leather couch.

*sigh* I know, I know, you told me so...I can hear your cyber chuckle from here.....

Apple Picking

Yesterday was the warmest Sunday in October I have ever experienced in New England. After a 45 minute romp in the woods with Sabrina and her best buddy, Bandit, we drove westward to Shelburne Farm in Stow to meet some friends for apple picking. Sabrina went on her first apple picking trip and boy was it fun! There were so many yummy apples to try but her favorites were Fujis. I had to agree with her. They were humongous and thanks to Bandit's mommy, we got the most beautiful apples from the tops of the trees because she was the only one to climb the ladder to get them! Here is Sabrina waiting patiently for her apple!

Have You Seen Her?

My title reminds me of a song that came out when I was in middle school or high school....sometime in the 80s. (yes, I was a child of the 80s...and still am!)

(music cue) have you seen her.....doo doo doo, ooooh, have you seen her?

I can't remember who sang it though. I'm really bad at remembering this kind of stuff.

Anyways, back to the topic. A new member of the dog park has recently been overwhelmed by the number of people who ask him if he's seen Sabrina. When we arrived yesterday, we finally met him. As I walked the perimeter of the large grassy area of Beaverbrook, I saw a man at the other end waving at me. I could see a little black puppy at the end of his leash and I figured he must have thought I was someone else. But we was, in fact, waving to me. Sabrina was galloping her way across the field and he had spotted her, the infamous, one and only Flattie of the park. And he had been asked by countless dog owners, "Have you met Sabrina?" As I got closer, I realized that the little one at the end of his leash was a 12 week old Flattie! How delightful!

We met the lil guy, whose name is Bam and all those memories of Sabrina's puppyhood came back. I have not seen a Flattie puppy since Sabrina was little so this was such a treat. Plus, we did not adopt Sabrina until she was almost 13 weeks old so this lil guy was smaller than I remember Sabrina was when we brought her home. His coat is wavier than Sabrina's and his ears look like someone crimped them that morning. He absolutely loved Sabrina and she, in true Flattie style, lavished him in kisses. We now have a new Flattie friend at the park. I *do* feel bad that every other person who meets Bam asks the poor guy that same question. But when you're that famous, what can you do, right?

Phase 2 of 2nd TPLO

Riley is almost 5 weeks post knee surgery now. At this point in his last surgery, I was beginning to take him on short walks and doing physical therapy exercises. I think we are being much more relaxed about this recovery but he seems to be doing really well. He is weight-bearing on a slow walk and will put his foot down during an easy trot. Just one week ago, he was still trotting on 3 legs, holding his injured leg up.... So progress!
Last weekend, Riley got to "go out" for the first time in 4 weeks. I let him walk around on a flexi-leash by the big house on the Paine Estate for about 10 minutes. He, of course, had to make sure he made the most out of his 10 minutes and peed on every single bush he could reach. And then a car ride to Whole Foods and back again. The whole time, he stuck his head out the window, snout pointed into the wind, and took deep breaths (with an occasional sneeze). He was delighted to "go out" and it was perfect Berner weather.
The X-pen has come down as well and Riley now has full access to the main level of our condo. He has shown his delight by reclaiming his post on the chaise lounge of the couch. (so much for the new dog beds) To encourage Sabrina and Riley to use their own dog beds, the Dogfather even crawled into the beds with the dogs. It was a good idea but I'm not sure they bought it entirely. New leather furniture arrives this weekend. I don't think Riley has even been on leather. I am hoping it will feel strange to him and he will opt for the softer material on the dog beds. I've never heard of a dog with expensive taste for leather, have you?

New Furnishings

Next week, new furnishings arrive to our humble abode. It is an exciting time! Our attic will be finished enough to move furniture into and we will have added another entire level to our home! Wonderful new pieces will be arriving to accent our home: a new leather couch (no more vacuuming dog and cat hair!!), new end tables, a new desk for the Dogfather, a new vanity table for the Alpha female (oh, that would be me *grin*), and of course the wall to wall carpeting. Yippee! The kids have not been forgotten, besides the baby furniture that has been ordered and will be arriving next month, Riley and Sabrina's new furniture have, in fact, already arrived.
The Dogfather purchased two new canine "couch" beds to encourage the two to stay off our human couch. We got this one in green to match the new green room (attic):


And this one is, as you can see, paisley:



Besides the fact that we do love to love our furkids, this was one suggestion from the Barks and Babies dog training class I attended. She suggested that every room we like to spend time in should have dog beds so our dogs have a place of their own, not all over our things. So far, only the cats have been sleeping in the beds....seems the dogs will need some extra encouragement to try out their new beds...

My Creatures Comfort (Me)

I am sick at home with the darn common cold. But oh, when you are pregnant, there is nothing common about having additional aches and pains.....AND YOU CAN'T TAKE ANYTHING FOR IT!
Well, my choices were to take Benadryl (which would knock me out and probably Baby Lulu as well) or nothing. Since I would have to miss work either way, I decided to take nothing. Oye.
I spent the day rotating from the bed, to the bathroom, to the couch, to the dining table. What made it more bearable was having my Riley Smiley up on the couch cuddling with me and the Sabrina Beanie Butts up on the bed while I napped. They certainly were comforting and for once, I welcomed them on the forbidden furniture.

Thank you, my furkids!

2 Weeks Post 2nd TPLO

The hounds are well these days.

Riley just got his stitches out yesterday and the recovery is going as planned. Many people at the park have been asking for him, fearing the worst, of course. But I just tell him he is recovering from knee surgery and after they offer their sympathies, I tell them in an upbeat tone, "But he's ONLY got 2 knees, so once he recovers, he should be all set!" Some people get it, some people don't. Oh well. (And yes, dogs really have two elbows and two knees)

Work is being done in our attic and I think it is freaking Sabrina out a little bit. For about 2 weeks, people were cutting large holes in our roof and our attic wall to put in a lovely skylight and windows. During this time, a dog-friendly electrician was also here. Entertained by Sabrina's antics, he would stop to play with her here and there. Well, nice electrician guy is gone. Lately, we've had the 65 year old retired Russian man painting our attic. Russian man is a big man but he is a bit nervous about the dogs. Maybe it was the way his body stiffened up when both dogs sat at his feet (most politely I might add) and he tossed the peanut butter cracker he had in his hand across the room. Needless to say, he didn't want to interact much with the dogs and I think that put Sabrina off a little bit. She communicated that quite clearly to us by chewing up 3 more remote controls. *sigh* You'd think we'd find a better place for our remotes, huh?!

Meanwhile, as the attic is being painted and hopefully carpeted soon, the door has remained closed off to all animals (of the furry kind) and they are not happy with this set up. Don't worry guys, we will be unveiling the new "green room" soon! To the dogs, since we have hard wood floors everywhere else in the house, it will be like one big dog bed to them, haha!

Barks and Babies

I attended a 2 hour seminar called, "Barks and Babies" last weekend. It was 2 hours chock full of great training tips and suggestions for running my "pack" more smoothly when the lil non-fur child arrives (aka Lulu).

Here is what we have been working on this week:

1. All dogs must wait at the threshold of an open door. No barreling thru without a command.
(I wish there was a class like this for cats)

2. If the dogs want to follow us from room to room (including the nursery) they are welcome to, but they hang out on their
beds, not under our feet.

3. Dogs may bark once (or twice) when the door bell rings or when someone knocks at the door, then look at me. Gone are the
days of Wroo Wroo Wroo Wrooooooo Wroo symphonies.

4. Treats are no longer dispensed from the kitchen area. If dogs want their treat, they must return to their dog beds for them.

5. Baby sounds will be played at varying volumes from different parts of the house.

6. Dogs may greet us at the door but may not continue to entrap out legs until we fall over to pet them. After greeting, they
return to their beds to wait for when we have a minute to say hello properly to them.

7. While we, human bipeds, are home (key words here), dogs are only allowed on furniture when invited. Once we get off the
furniture, all quadripeds must leave the furniture as well.


I think we're on our way to a very good start. It is amazing what we can still teach our dogs. I was quite skeptical that Riley and Sabrina could learn all these rules, but alas, when you are pack leader (*grin*) much is possible. I will fill you in to let you all know how it's going...

4 Days Post TPLO #2

Riley is doing well. Better than expected actually. There seems to be significantly less bruising and swelling in his leg this time. He is also calmer, as if remembering his ordeal last time and understanding the process of rehabilitation.
Sabrina was of course estatic to see him home. In an amazing act that I can only describe as being compassion, Sabrina greeted him slowly and cautiously, inspecting him from the top of his head to the tip of his tail. She is, right now, curled up on a dog bed with him, snoozing.
Since Riley has been home, we have not asked him to do stairs yet. Which means he can only go out when the Dogfather is around to carry him down the front steps and carry him back up. Perhaps today or tomorrow I will see if I can convince him to do the 8 or so steps. With his leg completely shaven, you can see what a skinny little behind he has and I worry about the amount of muscle atrophy that has already happened over the past few weeks and months.
Riley's appetite has been good. His incision and staples look pretty good. They seem to be itching him today as he whips around to lick his wound when he is moving forward as if something has nipped him from behind. I have continued to ice it whenever I can and for as long as I can stand kneeling on the floor holding the ice pack in place. Not an easy task since I have put on almost 20 pounds!

One Less in the Pierce Household

Did I forget to mention that we have found the Ming-a-Ling a new home? It seems it may be a good forever home for our little devilish girl! Although our original trial home option did not work out, a new one cropped up unexpectedly. Ming went to her new home while we were away on vacation in Maine. Since then, we have gotten updates that she is doing well. She has been described as one active kitty who is literally "bouncing off the walls" and has "lots of energy!" That's my Ming-a-Ling! And that is music to my ears. That sounds like she is being herself and I hope that means she is happy being the queen of her own castle. She gets to sleep on her new mommy's bed and is allowed to stay up all night to play with her toys whenever she wants to! We plan to go to visit her. Perhaps we will have to bring Sabrina to visit as they must miss each other. Will let you know when that happens.
As for our household, there is such peace and balance in the home now. Ming-a-Ling always had a way of stirring everything and everybody up. I miss the little imp, but knowing she has a new place to call home, I don't miss her too much. At least I can go see her if I want to!

So Far So Good

Dr. Trout called me in the early afternoon today. It was such a relief to hear his voice and confirm that Riley was already out of surgery and recovering. The best news is that the meniscus cartilage was not damaged so I can anticipate Riley's recovery to be very similar to his last one. Tonight he stays at the hospital where he continues to come off the anesthesia. He got an epidural that lasts 18 hours! On top of that, he gets pain killers. Tomorrow morning, Dr. Trout will check up on him and call me to let me know how he looks. By the end of the work day tomorrow, I get to go bring my baby boy home.
I had a quick pep talk with Riley this morning. I told him he was going to go to sleep and wake up with a bad boo boo on his leg but that I would be there to make him feel better. And that I would be right there to help him feel better for the next few weeks. And that soon he would be feeling great and his leg would be all better to run and roll in the snow. I told him what a good boy he is and gave him lots of hugs and kisses. No tears this time. I know he will be OK.

Preparing for TPLO #2

Last Tuesday, I took Riley to see the orthopedic surgeon at Angell Memorial. It was comforting to see a familiar face and yet, how unfortunate to have to bring Riley to see him again. But I felt we could not be in better hands. Dr. Trout performed Riley's left knee surgery in October of last year, 2006. Today, you would never know he's had an injury in that knee. Every other vet that has examined him has commented on the minimal scarring and amazing recovery in that knee. Because of Dr. Trout's great work, Riley was able to enjoy a fun filled winter, spring, and hopefully will be able to enjoy many many more seasons to come. Unfortunately, Riley's right knee could not keep up with his spirit. And it is clear to us that we need Dr. Trout's expertise once again.

Next Wednesday, we drop Riley off to be prepped for surgery. He will stay the night and come home on Thursday. I am 100 times calmer than I was last time around. I have no concerns about the surgery, just a bit worried about Riley being under anesthesia and the amount of pain he will have to endure. I plan to stay up the night with him as I did the first time around. We anticipate a longer recovery period if Riley has torn the meniscus cartilage between his joints. Plus, this injury seems to be worse than the first one. I expect the surgeon to tell me that his ligaments are completely torn as well as the meniscus.

In preparation of this surgery, there wasn't much to do. I sent him to the groomers yesterday to shave down his legs and some of his tail. Last time, Riley came home with some foul smelling mats around his leg that I could not clean out. Probably a combination of blood, iodine, and maybe even fecal matter. His paws were also trimmed to ensure maximum traction when he returns home. I do not know how else to prepare him for the pain he will have to endure. But hopefully, this will be the end of his orthopedic pains and he will be able to run and romp with his sister for years to come.

Home Sweet Home - and Back to the Big Bed

Happy Labor Day and sorry to all that have to labor on this day. We are having a beautiful weekend in New England and my family (furkids and us) are very happy to be back home. We just returned from a two week vacation on Moosehead Lake in Greenville, Maine. Although the house we rented was just like a home away from home, nothing beats coming home to sleep in the Big Bed. :D

We rented the Moosehead Hideaway last winter over X-mas and loved it so much we went back this summer for two weeks. We invited some friends and family up to join us and that was part of what made it such a fantastic vacation.

Dogfather said to me our last night there while watching the sunset at Lily Bay, "This was the best two weeks I've ever had."

Everyday was fun, relaxing and filled every atom in my body with happiness. What could be better than 14 days without e-mail, without a watch on, without any worries, eating whenever you're hungry and sleeping whenever you are tired, and having your dogs with you? It was the best.

Unfortunately on the fourth day of our trip, Riley blew out his right knee entirely. We had been managing a partial ligament tear on this knee for almost 3 months now. A little too much excitement on vacation was enough to tear the remaining ligaments. It was heartbreaking but my boy pulled through so bravely. 24 hours post injury, he was up and running again, only on 3 legs. It is quite amazing how adaptive he was. He was a fast dog on 3 legs! We were lucky to be staying just down the road from the local vet and I found this small town vet to be open-minded, kind, and much more holistic than I can say for most of Boston's vets. Although we puchased a bottle of Rimadyl to last us the entire two weeks, I was able to manage Riley's injury by just icing it and and giving him Arnica. Yay!

We have a ton of wonderful photos which I will try to post soon. Mostly photos of Riley, Sabrina, and the fur friends that came up to visit. I will post them soon. Stay tuned!

More Green Stuff

More green stuff has been erupting from my fur babies these days. In the form of eye goop. It's kinda gross.

It started out with Sabrina with a little yellow discharge. I would wipe them clean in hopes that her immune system would naturally clear things up. But last Sunday's swim in a pond in Athol resulted in bright lime green goop emerging from her eyes. Very goopy stuff. She has those lower eyelids that kinda bow outwards, so I'm sure she "caught" lots of yucky stuff from the pond.

Well, in the past two days, Riley has caught the eye goop. His is still yellow and not quite as flourescent, but goopy just the same.

In the past, I have used an antibiotic ointment, Terramycin.

This was the same stuff my mom used to use in our eyes when we had eye infections or red eye from swimming in the pool. But the discount pet store near us that used to sell it over the counter is no longer there. Oh no! And more vets require an office visit and prescription to get the stuff.

But all turns out well when I turn to a holistic practitioner and she points me in the direction of homeopathic treatments as well as a great over the counter homeopathic eye drop.

For the green goop, she told me to use remedy #1. For yellow goop, remedy #2. And the drops are preventative for the future, such as our upcoming vacation to Moosehead Lake.

It's the second day now and Sabrina's green is now yellow and much less goopy. Riley's is pretty much cleared up! I have to say, even I was impressed. Here is the over the counter eye drops that you can purchased from Whole Foods. In fact, I even used it this morning in my own eyes as they were a bit ithcy and it was great!



I am more than thrilled that I now have a new, cheaper option for treating eye infections. A closer look at Terramycin reveals that it is a petroleum-based product. So bleah, less of that in my eye, or their eyes, the better!

Meeting Brodie

I went to visit a co-worker at her home in Marblehead today. She has a new Berner baby, just 4 months old. He's over 40 pounds already!
It was pure joy to hold a ball of fluffy Bernerfur in my arms, bury my nose into the fuzz, and breath in a deep breath of puppy breath. Whom can resist that?!

Piles of Green Sh*t

Came home Tuesday afternoon to some peculiar looking piles of green poop on the kitchen rug.

What the *#*#$@%#*$??!!!

There were three good sized piles. And it was clearly poop. I had a hunch it was Sabrina. If Riley ever has an accident in the house, he so graciously poops as close to the door as possible, on a small, washable rug.

No, no. This must be Sabrina's work.

I go to pick up the green piles and am surprised how dry they are. They barely leave any marks behind on the rug. Good thing. I spot clean the rug. I did not try to do a close examination of the poop. Pregnancy instincts tell me to stay clear of anything smelly like that.

I let Sabrina out and two more piles of green poop come out of her. She confirms that she is the culprit. But now I am totally stumped. What in the world did she eat? She usually grazes on grass but there is NO WAY she ate THIS much grass!

I wonder about the three large green peppers I bought the other day. But no, I cooked those up and ate them. Hmmmm....

I go back in and check my Bamboo Palm tree. It's still intact. No gnawed off branches or leaves.

Whatever. I have a date with a girlfriend from out of town. I return Sabrina to the house and head out.

And hour later my phone rings. It is the Dogfather. I answer.

"What are these piles of green SH*T on the rug?!!"

HUH? I guess she had more to expel. I have no idea and am totally baffled by this mystery. Did she eat a green blanket?
When I get home the Dogfather reveals the shredded ziploc bag that once contained a pound of organic wheat grass pills.

AHA! Now that makes sense. My Sabrina turned into a horse for a day and sh*t like a horse for the day.

Nice, Sabrina. Nice.

BFF

Pics from a recent playdate with our Best Fur Friends.

A Bulldog, a Corgi pup, a Mutt, and a Flat-Coat. They all had a grand time playing with the other dogs at the park.

And the RC Goblin Strikes Again

RC="remote control"

Guess who ate up another remote control?! Luckily, I wasn't the one who discovered it. Sabrina got an earful from her daddy yesterday. I didn't discover it until this morning (after the Dogfather and Sabrina had already left for their third backpacking trip in three weeks) when I wanted to turn on my loyal weekend companion, the TV. I could turn it on but not change any channels. I began to panic.

Whom will keep me company and help the time go by this weekend?!

Luckily, there is a Comcast service center just down the street. I will be able to replace my controller today, right after I go to yoga and relax.

2nd Time Around

This is the second weekend in a row that half of our family is away. The Dogfather has taken Sabrina backpacking again. Gone first thing Friday morning and not home until later today. This is how I've using the extra time to myself.

What I did last weekend:
* Watched The Painted Veil, On Demand (loved it!)
* Dog-sat Auntie Dory's Agave for a day
* Had a breakfast date with a friend and played with their baby
* Cooked a mighty fine welcome home dinner for my trekkers come home

What I didn't do last weekend:
* Exercise
* Do housework
* Walk any dogs (Riley's injured his right knee)
* Sleep

This weekend, I decided to change things up.

What I did this weekend:
* Excercised
* Watched my neighbor's Mandy for 3 days
* Did domestic housework (several loads of laundry and vacuuming!)
* Watched several episodes of the Dog Whisperer
* Had a massage party with my girlfriends
* Slept great
* Still plan on cooking a mighty fine dinner tonight

What I didn't do this weekend:
* Miss the two of them as much
* Watch too much cable television
* Eat much (but I'm going to Dim Sum today, yay!)


On another note, in staying with the title of this post, 2nd Time Around, Riley has torn the ligament in his right knee. I took him to see the wonderful Anne Crawshaw and she didn't seem to think it was entirely ruptured, just torn. So she helped adjust his left hip a bit to realign him and then worked on his right side. Hopefully, with the proper rest, he may heal this summer without having surgery. Unfortunately, that means a lot of our baby-proofing training will have to be put on hold.

However, I must report that we have made some good gains and I am quite refreshed with hope. My girlfriend arrived at my house yesterday (for the massage party) with her 8 month old, and the baby slept right through Riley's welcome barking! Wow. He is beginning to understand that he cannot get up onto the sofa unless I have invited him. (he tried only once yesterday but got off immediately when I asked him to). He also got some baby proofing with the baby yesterday. After getting over the initial smells and noises she made, he eventually calmed and laid down to snooze happily at my feet. It was pretty funny watching him check out the baby in my lap. Everytime she waived her little chubby arm in the air, Riley flinched jumped back a foot as if she possessed great power and strength. It is very difficult for the Riley Smiley to learn that he is not going to be the apple of my eye forever, but he is learning. We just need more baby play dates!

More Ponds Closed

NECN this morning reported several ponds in NH closed due to potentionally toxic levels of blue-green algae. I did an internet search and found that this apparently is a more common occurence than I thought. Local towns have been known to shut down their local swimming holes for an entire summer. Unfortunately for seasonal vacationers like ourselves, we would have no idea if a body water is safe to swim in or not.

A bit worrisome to say the least.

Some Special Time

Last weekend Sabrina started her new job as the Dogfather's hiking partner. They headed to the local Blue Hills and did a couple of miles each day. While they were away, Riley and I took advantage of the special opportunity to spend quality time together (something I'm sure will become few and far between especially when the lil non-fur-kid arrives). He was back to being my Momma's boy. We took a nice quiet walk together, went to the full service gas station where he got two milk bones, stopped by two different pet stores where he got yummy treats, got to eat an entire meal in peace at home, and had his very own frozen yogurt cup for dessert. He was spoiled rotten!

It is actually really nice to be able to appreciate Riley as an individual and enjoy him for just him. It's been too easy to address Riley and Sabrina as a unit lately. They go everywhere together, do everything together, and are always treated as a pair.

This weekend, Sabrina and the Dogfather are away for a three day backpacking trip. And it is a little lonely at home. BFF Agave is visiting for the day, but it's been me and Riley since Friday morning. I miss them terribly and I'm beginning to feel like Riley misses them too. I can't wait to hear about their 25 mile adventure when they return.

Recent Reading for Baby-Proofing

Per the recommendation of the Berner club's training chair, the Dogfather and I have been reading two books.

Training Book 1

and

Training Book 2

While on vacation last week the Dogfather and I both poured over these two books, pointing out to each other parts of each book that we thought we needed to work on. We discussed the type of training plan we would have to follow and how well behaved our dogs would be by the time the baby arrives. We were focused. We were determined to have well behaved dogs. Training camp was about to start in our house.

Well, step Numero Uno was supposed to be: No pets in the bedroom - no ifs, ands, or buts. We were ready to banish Riley and Sabrina from our room. Establish our Alpha-ness and eventually the baby's alphaness. So we planned it out so that we could prepare ourselves for a few nights of whining and crying and lost sleep. We decided to start last night so that hopefully by Sunday night we wouldn't be suffering on a Monday morning. The author of the book said he has never known a dog to protest for more than 4 nights straight. Okee.

We came home Wednesday night to the sweetest dogs in the whole-wide world. We went on a relaxing vacation for an entire week and left our beautiful babies here, lonely and worried about us and they still love us to pieces. Riley hasn't left my side in days. I suddenly saw our jealous, baby-toy stealing, dirty-daiper eating furkids as the sweetest, most well behaved dogs anyone could ask for. I missed them so much and told them we were sorry for leaving them for so long. I promised them, next vacation, we were bringing them (which is true, it's already planned).

So we recalculated the training plans. The baby doesn't arrive until December. We have until about November before we have to banish them right?

Summertime Warning For Dogs Who Swim

Recently, this topic has been all over the Whole Dog Journal as well as our local club member lists. This is disturbing information.
Algae Article

Crosby's Story


We have always allowed our dogs to drink from natural water sources. I have usually been careful to only allow them to drink from sources with running water such as streams, creeks, or rivers. I don't worry that much about the threat of Giardia as that is quite treatable and non-life threatening (if treated of course). Plus, I generally put faith in their immune systems to take care of this sort of thing.

My main worry now is for our lil Sabrina. She has learned to love the water and will go running into the water to swim to cool off. I am not sure how much she is actually drinking but I'm sure she is ingesting some of it. There is a shallow body of water at the Paine house where we walk frequently. I am hoping it will dry up soon, although it just rained again. Sabrina will usually leave me at the trail head and head for a dip in the pond. It is usually covered in a few spots with a yellowish film. I just always assumed it was the pollen from the trees. And it probably is. But without any run off and with the temperatures rising, there isn't any reason why algae wouldn't flourish here.

I sure do hope this pond dries up soon.

Baby-proofing the Dogs

Recently, we have been realizing more and more the challenges of having a baby in the house with two large dogs.

And becoming a bit concerned about it.

So I'm calling in reinforcements. I've contacted the training guy from the local Berner club to give me some pointers. Riley has been showing signs of jealousy big time. More and more all the time. Especially since we'be gotten Sabrina. But not just jealously. Overprotectiveness. I think he's just a little confused what his role is.

Sabrina, I have no doubt will love and adore the baby (and probably drown it in sloppy kisses, not good either). She is also the one I'm concerned about stealing baby bottles and eating dirty diapers. (I didn't come up with these. These are just a few examples of naughty dog behavior that I read in Time Magazine.) Demomting the Dog

Will the baby be able to sleep through the symphony of Wroo Wroos that escalate whenever someone comes to the door? Will the baby lose to Sabrina all of the baby toys? Recall Sabrina's obsession with plastic? More importantly, will I lose my patience when the dogs waken the baby from a much needed nap or destroy a favorite toy for the 5th time?

I certainly never imagined anything but perfect harmony in my mind before all of this became so real. After all, the Dogfather and I are true dog-lovers. Animal-lovers if you will. We would never love our dogs any less, no matter what...I think?

I'm getting on Amazon right now to find a good book on baby-proofing the dogs.

8 Random Facts

Molly the Dog of the World played this fun game on her blog so we thought we'd play too. The first one is Riley's and the second, Sabrina's.

Eight Random Facts about Riley, in his own words:

1. I'm perfectly handsome, except for the fact that my tail apparently has a "kink" in it. This kink causes it to curl around like a question mark when I hold it up high over my back. Some people say it's a "fault." I think it's attitude.

2. I never used to let any men pet me. I would give them the evil eye and they would think I was some poor abused/rescued dog. But ever since my little sister came along, I've changed my ways. She seems to love everyone's pats and scratches and I realized I was missing out! Now I make it a point to go up to men and get patted. It only took 4 years.

3. I typically don't care for vegetables. I'm a canine for goodness sake! That means sharp, knashing, meat tearing teeth. But I do enjoy those delicious roasted brussell sprouts around that Turkey Day holiday.

4. I LUV to roll in stinky stuff. That includes goose poop, deer poop, dead things, you name it. Lovely times.

5. Whenever my little sister gets in trouble (and that's a lot), I try to apologize for her. The humans just melt over that stuff and forgive you right away. All it takes is a long face and a little pawing action and poof! they ooh and aw over you again.

6. Red meat is my favorite kind of meal. Beef or buffalo please!!

7. Last year after I hiked Cadillac Mountain for the second time in my life, my left knee gave out. I think I pushed myself too hard (or my humans put too much of their food crap in my hiking pack). Either way, I had to have knee surgery. But I am all healed up now!

8. I don't swim. Gimme the life jacket and I'm happy to get on the boat with you. In fact I've been on a motor boat, a canoe, and an inflatable raft before. But not without my life jacket, thank you very much!


Eight Random Facts about Sabrina, in her own words:

1. I love everyone. Yes! Yes! There's no one that doesn't like me right?!

2. I love those meowing cats in our house. We have three and I love to play with them. They make all sorts of funny noises and I love to sniff their butts!

3. I eat anything and everything. Throw it at me and I'll be your garbage disposal. That includes your apple cores, old veggies from the fridge, milk at the bottom of your cereal bowl, leftover cat food, whatever! I'm here to serve.

4. When I get a little anxious I chew on plastic. And usually the nearest plasticky thing is the remote control. I've gone through four of our own and I got one of Auntie Dory's too. Ooops, so sorry 'bout that.

5. I love love love to chase the ball. When there is ball, there is nothing else in the whole world that can distract me. Well, beside a nice puddle of muddy water that is. I am a very good retriever and can always find the balls that other irresponsible dogs leave behind at the park. Can you imagine leaving a ball in the park?! Unbelievable.

6. I still do lots of naughty things cuz they say I'm still a puppy. Haven't they realized yet that I am a Flat-Coated Retriever?! We are known to be the Peter Pan of dogs. We NEVER grow up! That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it. Sorry about the remotes, again.

7. I am my Dogfather's offical backpacking partner. Though I've only gone on two trips I think that's pretty good for being a puppy! I want to go on more. They are fun!

8. I make lots of really funny noises, out of both ends. Whenever I lay down or change positions, I have to groan. And I frequently pass a little Pssssss, out the other end. Tends to happen most when I'm going up and down stairs. Oh, and when I'm doing the doggy stretch-big time. Oh and sometimes when I'm just sitting down. Dunno why.


This was Fun! Thanks Molly for the idea. Wouldn't you like to play too?! Tell us 8 Random Facts about you!

Clean For A Moment or Two

Riley and Sabrina were sent to have a day of beauty yesterday. It was Sabrina's first spa treatment. I'm sure they both thought it was highly unnecessary. Apparently Sabrina had a panic attack when they took Riley out first to bath him and she was left in the kennel. Or perhaps she was upset that he got to play in the water first. In the end, they both received glowing report cards when I came to pick them up 3 hours later. Ears trimmed, coats soft and shiney, nails done, they were both ready to bust outta there.

Upon returning home, Riley made it a point to trot right over to the asphalt and perform some acrobatic flip/body slam move (as if to increase the dramatization) to the ground. And did a back shimmy shimmy roll, grinding that newly glossed coat of his into the everyday dirt of the world. I guess he didn't feel like Freesia was a good scent for him. I thought it was quite lovely.

Sabrina did not use such immediate dramatic actions to express her feelings towards me. She simply ran to the nearest body of water when we arrived at the park later that afternoon and laid right down in the rusty colored stream. No one, not one single person witnessed my little Sabrina all nice and clean. That was clearly her payback.

"Clean? Who me? My mom's crazy. We're dogs, we're not meant to be clean?!"

Well, they were both supposed to stay clean until they passed their therapy-dog certification tests on Sunday. Yeesh. What was I thinking...that's 3 whole days.

Lazy Dog Days of Summer

Today is officially the first day of summer. The longest day of the year. YAY!

*I* am also officially on summer vacation, as of yesterday. No more crazy kids for 3 weeks. And what I love most is...I'm sleeping in! (til 6 or 7 am) That's sleeping in for me. I could never sleep in before. It just made getting up early that much more painful on Mondays. Plus I would get restless and the dogs would get restless. But now the little leech inside my body keeps telling me to sleep on! sleep on! And sleep I will. The other night I konked out at 7:30 and didn't get up til 6 the next morning. YAY!

Every morning when the Dogfather rises at some ungodly hour, another warm little being takes his place on his side of the bed. I usually roll over to find a soft furry black dog that responds to the name, Sabrini Beeni Butts (Thanks Auntie Dory). She likes to sleep with her head on her daddy's pillow and she likes to sleep in with me. She also keeps good track of time and makes sure I don't sleep the day away. She's never let me sleep past 7am or nap in the afternoon past 6pm. There are parks to go to and balls to chase! I am enjoying our walks in the park just as much as the dogs are. That's just about all I have the energy for these days and I try to walk for an hour if I can.

Well, off to walk the dogs now!

Ming Needs A New Home

We have come to the unfortunate conclusion that the little Ming-a-ling needs to find a new home. With the new addition due to arrive in our family by the end of the year (a non-furry new addition), we can no longer accomodate her special needs. Here is a little background on Ming.

We found her behind our house four years ago. It was around September and it was a rainy night. The Dogfather heard her pitiful wails and recruited me to help find her. It wasn't too difficult to find the loud crying, white kitty in the dark. She suffered a scraped nose in the scuffle but seemed fine. Except she was clearly not someone's pet. She hissed, spat, growled, swiped, and guarded her food with intensity. I remember putting a bowl of food down for her and as her took gulpfuls of food in, she kept one paw on top of the food pile to protect it. She was all of one and a half pounds when she weighed in at the vet's the next day. Her estimated birthdate is 7/25/2003.




As she grew in the following weeks, she stealthly stole food off of our plates and off my chopping board right from under my nose. But the little Ming grew on us, as well as Riley, as she slowly developed into a lovely domesticated cat. We have many pictures of Ming sleeping with Riley, crawling all over his back, and sucking on his fur. The two of them grew up together and kept each other company while we were away at work.
She also took to the oldest cat, Little Li, as a playmate. The two kitties played chase, tag, and wrestled together.




Ming was not welcomed by our other cat, MeiMei, however. MeiMei enjoys the leisurely life of laying in a lap and being petted. No running around. No pouncing. No chasing for this plump girl. She certainly was not amused by any of this new kitten's antics. So she warned her off by growling, hissing, and spatting. This only intrigued Ming more. Ming now realized that she could get a rise out of MeiMei by just walking past her. And thus began the rift between the two. Ming would purposefully go out of her way to annoy MeiMei. Ming would stalk Mei while she was snoozing and viciously pounce on her, sending her straight out of a blissful sleep into a hair-raising screech. The more Mei growled, the more intense Ming's obsession with her became. It finally got to the point where we felt MeiMei's well being was jeapordized. The attacks were becoming more frequent and intense. And quite frankly, I was tired of listening to the growling. It is a very unsettling, deep growl that makes me feel like I have an upset stomach.

Our solution for the past two years is to separate the two. During the day, Ming is allowed to actively roam the house with all the other furkids while MeiMei gets the spare room/Dogfather's office to herself. She has her own bed, window perch, and safety and security. Everyone is out together only for the brief time of eating dinner. Food trumps all other interests here. After dinner, the cats are generally good as they digest their food and do their business. When things start to get a little hairy, Ming is sent to her crate so that MeiMei can have some socialization time with us. Ming then spends the rest of the night crated while MeiMei has the rest of the quiet house to enjoy. In the morning, MeiMei has her breakfast first and is retired to her "office" before Ming is let out. This arrangement seems to have worked out fine for us. Ming tends to do well being crated at night. In the past, if left to roam, she exhibited strange behaviors that could only be described by me as mournful and lonely. She would walk around the dark, quiet house crying and moaning until she found something to play with. This usually involved tossing something down the stairs and chasing it. NOT something we wanted to hear in the middle of the night when we're trying to get some sleep. Early in the morning before we woke, we could also hear her scratching at the bottom of our closed doors, mewing to get in. We finally decided to crate her and it seems to give her a sense of security and a place where she belongs.



The few times we have been careless and left a door open, Ming has clearly shown her jealousy of MeiMei and attacked her. She has also been known to urinate on Mei's belongings or my belongings to clarify her feelings to us. Believe me. It was loud and clear.

With the new family member due to arrive, we will be planning to change the office to a nursery. MeiMei will probably still be allowed to stay, but the door will no longer be kept closed. Therefore, there will be no way to safely separate the two cats.

We are beginning our search early and are willing to take the time to find a good home for our little Ming-a-Ling. Here are the recommendations I would have for any potential adoptive home:

No other cats

Preferrably a dog or dogs in the home for her to play with. She may be quite lonely coming from a home of 5 animals to being the only one and she gets along with dogs wonderfully.

Indoor only. Although she enjoys going out on to the balcony to bask in the sun, the few times she has accidently gotten out (or fallen off the balcony) she was been quite frightened and wanted to be back inside as soon as possible. If you do not live near busy roads, she may eventually learn to love the outdoors and I don't doubt she will be a fantastic mouser.

Minimal vaccinations. Again, she has been a indoor cat all of her life. She has had all basic vaccinations and is in great health.

We will provide you with her crate to maintain her sense of security when you may need it.

We will provide you a couple months of food if you would like. She was raised on a raw diet but will eat anything out of a can. She has never seen a kibble before and I highly doubt she will eat that. If you would like more information regarding a raw diet I will be happy to assist you getting started.

If you decide to take her and realize it is not going to work out, we will happily take her back, but ONLY BEFORE DECEMBER 1. Anytime after that will be impossible for us to take her back. We really hope this doesn't happen and whomever decides to adopt her has a good understanding of her needs and will commit to adopting her. Please pass the word onto anyone you know that may be interested in adopting a beautiful, fun-loving, kitty.

New Challenges

Yesterday I attended an 8 hour training session to learn more about training Sabrina for a pet therapy program. The training was without our dogs; strictly a handler-focused workshop. I decided to try and register Sabrina through a larger, more established, more well known, international organization. In three weeks, Sabrina and I will try to pass both a skill test and an aptitude test. If we succeed and overcome the 60% failure rate, we will be offically registered pet partners with Massachusetts Pet Parters (MPP), which is a subdivision of Delta Society. Massachusetts Pet Partners

The day was long and full of important information. We have a training manual that is over an inch thick and all the participants had to participate in a variety of small group and role-playing activities. We are expected to read the entire manual before test day. I was impressed how seriously they took the training and certifying teams for therapy work. Although at times, I admit, it did seem a little over the top.

Riley was certified through another local pet therapy program. The training workshops were very different. Riley and I attended 7 hour and a half sessions together. We spent part of the time listening to the instructor and the other half of the time practicing skills. We had opportunities to practice teaching our dogs to "leave it", walking around wheelchairs, approaching people in walkers, and how to walk our dogs down a crowded corridor. It was more of a handler-dog training session. I loved the hands on training and practice. I felt the criterion for certification, however, was loose and in my opinion, irresponsible. They passed a lot of people that I felt clearly did not have control of their dog nor a good understanding of their dog's behavior. Many people left the workshop without a good understanding of how to advocate for their dog. Basically, a lot of people who just think their dog is cute were certified and set loose to bring their dog to potentially volitile and unpredictable environments. This includes myself.

MPP spends a lot of time talking about all the potential challenging situations we may find ourselves in and how to advocate for our dogs' well being. They stress that your dog is NOT an entertainer. They are trained to provide a service, which could include entertainment, but is much more than that. They teach people how to look outside of themselves, socialize, they teach empathy and elicit nurturing emotions. However, as thorough as this training was, we as handlers are expected to train our dogs for the skills and aptitude tests on our own. This means I need to find ways to expose Sabrina to a variety of environmental stimuli on my own. It is a rigorous test and we will get marked down if we need to command our dogs multiple times to perform the skills. They obviously take the testing very seriously. What I also like about their testing is that they specifically state what type of envirnment they feel your dog is capable of: predictable or complex. I now realize that the environment I have Riley in is complex (high stress, highly unpredictable, lots of change, etc) and he would have done so much better in a predictable environment.

I plan to bring Riley on test day to see if I can register him through MPP as well. We have a lot of work ahead of us in the next three weeks and I hope we can do it! Keep your fingers and paws crossed for us!!

We're In the Clear...I Think...

A week ago on a warm, dewy morning up on the hill by the Paine house, Sabrina took out Riley's good leg. He was minding his own business, happily grazing on the fresh new juicy shoots of grass behind a hill. Sabrina was 100% fixated on the tennis ball and Chuck-it I had in my hand. I usually try to throw it over the hill so that she has to run up the hill, then down to get the ball, then back up and down the hill to return it to me. More bang for my buck, is what I think.

I cock my arm back to give the Chuck-it a good sling and the second the ball was about to leave my possession, I saw Riley's head appear at the top of the hill. And the tennis ball sailed in a straight line directly over him with Sabrina sprinting after it. But it was too late. She, of course, sees nothing but the path of the ball and as Riley came up over the hill she ran right THROUGH him which actually ended up being his right leg. I could not tell if she knocked his hip, knee, leg, whatever. All I could hear were Riley's cries. Screams actually. Terrible, pitiful, heart-wrenching cries that I still, today, cannot get out of my head. He headed straight for me, crying, clearly in a lot of pain. I instantly shifted into protective Mommy mode and ran to help my baby boy. I slid my left arm under his belly, supporting the weight of his hind-quarters and tried to calm him down with soothing words. Little by little I massaged his right leg, first the hip, then down his thigh to his knee, and then his ankle. He accepted the inspection and seemed to relax a little bit. After 10 minutes, I finally had to let his weight down and it was happiness to see him trot off. His gait was still a bit off and he was definitely standing without putting weight on it, but he was able to walk and trot back to the car.

Back at home, an ice pack, homeopathic remedy, and extra fish oil was in store for him. My biggest fear was that we were planning on leaving for vacation in just a few days. Sabrina and Riley were going to Auntie Dory's house to play with Agave for 5 days. I feared Riley would not get the rest he needed to recuperate from the injury. I could not imagine going through another knee surgery with him. I would do anything not to have to have him go through that again. So for the next few days, close leash walking and only one short walk a day proved to be just what he needed.

It's now over a week since the incident. We went up to the Paine house this morning and Riley would not go anywhere near the "site of the accident." In fact, he was quite spooked when I headed in the direction of the hill. Tail down and eyes sunken, he turned around and headed the other direction. I found him waiting by the car. My poor sweet boy! So we headed into the woods instead and he happily bounded into the thick brush. Funny how smart our furkids are huh?

The Flattie is a Year Old

Kickemuit's Sakonnet Surge "Sabrina" is now a year old.


She was one of ten born on May 22, 2006. And she is now one of our family of 5 furkids. She is our long-legged "moose on the loose" who has a sweet disposition and a challenging impish personality. She is lucky is she absolutely adorable or we would be having a hard time getting through the naughty moments!
Tonight we celebrated with a cup of Frosty Paws for each mutt. Happy First Birthday Flattie Girl!

Rain or Sun?

I'm a native of sunny San Diego so there's nothing I look forward to more than the longer sunny days that stretch into summery nights. Unfortunately, I own two dogs that thrive in very different temperatures!
Through the cold wintery season, my Bernerboy thrives in the frigid, bone chilling temperatures. He typically prefers to have his meals outside on the deck; with a nice bed of fluffy snow to eat on and to act as a dinner condiment. He cleans his coat in the snow, he washes his face in the snow, and he eats the snow. As much as Sabrina does love to frolic in the snow with her big brother, it doesn't take long before she gets the shivers. Her skinny little body and thin coat (thus the "flat coat") does nothing to protect her during the cold winter months.
Recently, however, the rains have brought great big ponds where there weren't before. This morning's walk was a special treat. The break in temperatures gave Riley a repreave from the 70-80+ temps we had last week. He happily cruised around the park as Sabrina headed to the pond for a morning swim. She is just now beginning to go swimming just for the sake of swimming, not to retrieve and object I have thrown. It's very cute.
As I look forward to feeling the warm sun on my face I secretly deep down still want the rains to come so that Sabrina can still have plenty of clean swimming holes to play in and Riley can still enjoy a few more weeks of outdoor play while he sheds his winter coat.
Who knows what the weather will have in store for us next week?!

The Truth of Heartworm

As we enter into flea, tick, and mosquito season I have the very same worries as every other dog owner out there. I don't want my dogs to get sick from some parasite carrying disease. As many of my readers know, I do not believe in giving my dogs any sort of pesticide. We should not have any sort of chemical as strong as pesticides anywhere near our living, breathing family members. I don't want my furkids to eat it, wear it, lick it, or smell it. Does this mean that my dogs live in danger? I don't believe so. I believe the harm that pesticides make is certainly more dangerous than the chance of my dogs contracting heartworm, rocky mountain fever, Lyme's or any other parasite disease. Here's a great article to read about how difficult it is for your dog to actually get heartworm. Let's think logically. Let's make information driven decisions, not fear driven. Let's think about how many times you've been bitten by a mosquito. I can think of hundreds and hundreds of mosquito bites I have endured throughout my lifetime. I am 31 and still heartworm free. I have never been tested. I have never taken any pesticide preventative. I have never gotten heartworm. Why do we think this is such a threat to our dogs?

Heartworm Article

In previous years, I have ordered blood tests for my dogs twice a year to ensure they are heartworm free. This year, I plan to reduce that to just once a year. My Kind Vet and Holistic Vet BOTH ensure me that if we catch heartworm with the blood test, heartworm is very treatable. My dogs are not going to die. They may be sick but they can be treated and will recover. And that is IF they contract heartworm. Do I really want to give my dogs a pesticide orally every month of their life for nothing? Definitely doesn't seem worth it to me. I cannot imagine putting a pesticide into my body that is strong enough to work for an entire month (and 3 months retroactively) every day of my life. And we wonder why our pets are dying of cancer?

I know I'm sounding a bit preachy and getting up on a soapbox but one of the goals of this blog is to slowly help my readers make sound, educated decisions for the health of their beloved pets. Riley is my teacher and I owe it to him to tell everyone about the lessons I have learned from him. I'm not saying my method is what you should do, nor what everyone should do. I just want you to think about why you make the decisions you do for your pet and if it is truely right for you.

Where Oh Where Have We Been?

This has been the longest break I've ever taken from the blog. It seems these past few weeks have found me quite busy at work, quite tired upon coming home, and quite uninspired on blog topics. Here are the most recent updates:

Riley has returned to work at McLean Hospital with his sidekick, Mandy, in tow. (Sabrina is not happy to wait in the car while Riley gets to meet all these people and get back scratches.)

Sabrina has finished her Graduate Puppy Obedience class and we are so proud! Perhaps we'll dabble in some agility?

We have decided to find a new home for our Ming-a-Ling. We have until the end of this year to find her a new forever home who will love her, play with her, and not have another cat to compete with her. Anyone looking for a beautiful and athletic, 3 year old cat who LOVES playing with dogs?

A good friend of ours is getting a new puppy this week. A new playmate! Can't wait to meet him.

The Berner Club is having their Spring Fun Day next Sunday. We're going to have a blast!

Sabrina is going to have her first birthday soon. You think she'll start to smarten up?

Our BFF Jaxx is still on the mend from a paw injury. Get well soon Jaxxy!

And, tick season is upon us. Urgh.

The Story of Tucker

A family who didn't have time for their puppy.
A hopeful tried to find him a new home.
One morning in a parking lot.
A young pup and a gentle man become a foster family.
A chance to learn how to be a real dog.
A breeder that didn't care enough.
An old lab goes to the Rainbow Bridge.
A man is looking for a new companion.
A village who loves canines gave...
Tucker a new forever home.

Annual Review

A few days ago I brought Sabrina and Riley to see the Kind Vet for their annual checkups. I used to do this with Riley every spring and fall ensure we were healthy going into tick season and that we were healthy coming out of tick season. But now I'm content to just test him once a year. We are going on 3 years without any type of flea/tick control, yay!

The vet did a blood panel on both kids and ran a Snap test on each too. The Snap test tests for heartworm, Lyme's, Ehrlichia, and something else I can't remember. Looked like a pregnancy test. Good thing they came out all negative considering we had a real mild winter where the temps stayed warm enough for the ticks to survive. I have been feeding the furkids minced garlic in their meals the past couple of weeks and will be running tick checks when they return from running in the woods. If it starts to get really bad I will have to dust them with DE to take care of any buggers in their coats.

On educating my allopathic Kind Vet:
Last week I brought Mei Mei and Little Li to see the Kind Vet for their annual checkups too. I was concerned about their teeth. Everything checked out A-OK with them except that Mei Mei had a case of tapeworms much to my surprise. Where did that come from? Well, apparently the type she had was from ingesting a flea. Perhaps a lone critter that came home on one of my dogs that jumped on her. Who knows. And while grooming, she accidentally ate it.

So the vet offered me two choices, an injection of stuff I've never heard of or two large pills she had to swallow twice a day. Uh...can you say no thank you and no thank you? So I told her I would call my holistic vet and I was sure there was a natural way to eliminate these worms. We aren't talking a life or death situation here so I opted to wait to hear from Holistic Vet. She was highly intrigued and wanted me to let her know what the outcome was.

In the back of my head, I was already thinking what I could use if it were my dogs (grated carrots and ground raw pumpkin seeds) but I wasn't so sure about cats and whether I could get her to eat carrots and pumpkin seeds!

It turns out I was right. I checked in my bible Dr. Pitcairn and Mei Mei's been treated. Now my vet wants a copy of this book so she knows more natural ways to treat animals. Isn't that just grand?! I'm so happy to have found a Kind Vet who doesn't think she knows everything and is willing to learn. It really doesn't get any better than this.

Sabrina's Midweek Mishap

Little Sabrina strikes again.

Yes, she ate something.

And yes, she stole it off the counter.

I came home the other day to find an empty bottle of Nordic Naturals fish oil capsules with the top chewed off on the floor. No one fessed up right away but there was no need. Sabrina REEKED of fishiness from nose to tail tip. And I mean REEKED like she went swimming in a pool of fish oil.

And apparently it was a brand new full bottle.

She didn't even act like anything was wrong. She went out to the park to play, she ate her dinner, she went to bed, got up the next day, totally fine (well aside from a few hershey squirts). But I honestly thought I would be up with her all night going out to potty or worse, having loose fishy messes in the house.

Nope. Just a very fishy smelling Flat Coat with a very shiny coat and very bright eyes. Maybe all those Omega 3s made her a bit smarter?

Making Waves

So the recent hype in the dog world is that this past week, Oprah had a whole show on dogs. She brought her vet who is a holistic vet to discuss what dogs should actually be eating. (drum roll please.....)

Guess what he recommended on public television to a viewing audience of ??!?!?!

That feeding raw is the best dog diet.

And cooked diet 2nd... good quality canned food 3rd, good quality grain free kibble 4th, good quality grain in kibble was 5th. And regular grocery store bought generic kibble is way way low on the list.

Dr. Marty Goldstein, author of The Nature of Animal Healing, is an expert on holistic pet medicine and the veterinarian caring for Oprah's dog Sophie, who is suffering from kidney failure. Based on Dr. Marty's advice, Oprah says she now feeds her dogs a mixed diet of chicken, beef, lamb, brown rice, potatoes and carrots.

Dr. Marty Goldstein on Oprah

Dr. Marty says most people feed their dogs diets that go against their animal nature. He says a dog that eats only dry food is like a person who eats nothing but carbs! Dr. Marty says the best thing for a dog to eat is raw meat. His own dog, Danny, ate this diet and lived to be 19! "Danny lived on fresh cooked meat and brown rice and carrots, peas, lamb, potatoes. You know, real food. What did they eat in nature? They ate real food."

To get Dr. Marty's advice on what to feed your pet, visit Dr. Marty Goldstein

Kitchen Helpers

Last night I started to make Riley and Agave's birthday cakes. I had a general idea of how I wanted the cake done but no real plan. I headed to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients:

3 lbs of ground beef
a bag of boiling potatoes
3 sweet potatoes
a small glass roasting pot

I already had parmesan cheese, ketchup, bread crumbs and fresh garlic in the refrigerator at home to add to the recipe. I call it the, "Slow Cooked Garlic Meat Loaf with sweet potato filling and mashed parmesan-potato frosting." Hmm....seems kinda long...

It was really quite simple. Here's the final product:


The sweet potato is layered inside the cake. I wish I had a side cut view to see what the inside looks like. The "frosted" lettering on top is done by blending a can of Merrick's Cowboy Cookout and squeezing it out of a makeshift pastry bag (ziploc bag with corner cut off).

This morning I finished the cakes. Riley and Sabrina were allowed in the kitchen to help of course.


Cleaning the "batter" bowl...


And afterwards posed with their new handsome personalized bandanas.


Riley almost couldn't stand looking at his cake. Sabrina wasn't trusted anywhere near the cake.


Sabrina shares her secret scheming plan to hijack the cake to a very innocent and oblivious Smiley Riley.


And the Birthday Boy seems to like the sound of her plan!


The party starts at 2pm. Where will YOU be?
More photos coming....

Running Thru Woods on a Rainy Day

Riley and Sabrina had a blast with their BFF (best fur friend), Jaxx, yesterday afternoon. Because both of us fur-mom's had the day off, we decided to take the dogs somewhere different to explore.


We went to Great Brook Farm. It has been raining for 4 days but it seemed to let up just long enough for us to enjoy the woods for awhile. Even so, we came prepared with rain gear and waterproof boots. The recent downpour of rain has left everything feeling clean and fresh. Huge water puddles collected all around and they were all filled with clean, clear water.

Riley happily stuck his snout up to the fresh, crisp air and ran with his tail held up high like a flag. Sabrina found a new best friend in Jaxxy. She is now almost as tall as him and could run with him side by side. They both enjoyed crashing into the big puddles, criss crossing the path, not wanting to miss any interesting smells on either side. Sabrina tried several times to engage Jaxx in a game of tug-a-war with a stick. However, stuffing a large tree branch at Jaxxy's face did not encourage him to play. Usually Sabrina is pestering Riley so it was very cute to see her try with Jaxxy too. They all ran and they ran and they ran. It was pure satisfaction for them as well as for us to watch our furkids enjoy their outing.

We stopped at a small pond to let the dogs swim. Jaxxy is a proficient swimmer. Not only does he love the water, but he will go out to swim just for the fun of swimming! The expression on his face is priceless. Sabrina was a bit adventurous and swam out to retrieve sticks that were thrown about 20 feet out from the bank. She looked very nervous while swimming; which made me nervous and ready to leap into the water to rescue her. I think she needs to take more lessons from Jaxxy so I won't need to be rescuing my retriever in the future. Riley found the entire activity disturbing and stood ankle deep at the shore barking and grunting his disapproval. Whenever Sabrina returned from a swim, he reprimanded her. Perhaps it made him nervous too!

As we drove home, three dogs slept peacefully in the back.

Alas, I apologize for not bringing a camera to capture these precious moments. You will have to use your imagination to picture the wide, happy grins on their faces as they ran carefree, as happy as canines could be.

Extra Credit Reading

Warning, this article is long. I just found it browsing around. But it comments on a lot of the common concerns, questions, and doubts from non-raw believers. I'll just post it for you to read. What you decide to do with it is entirely up to you.

Raw Feeders in SF Story

This is Just the Beginning

Just in case anyone feeds this: Natural Balance expanded its recall, and melamine has been found in a rice protein concentrate. Natural Balance Recall

Can you see what is happening? The commercial pet food industry is beginning to crumble. Company after company is recalling their products. First it's the cheap wheat gluten, now it's the rice protein. What's next? These are all cheap fillers that pet food companies have been depending on for decades to keep their production costs low and their profits high. Cheap Filler

The only good that may come out of this is that maybe now, FINALLY, the pet food industry will be scrutinized and regulated.

Oh, didn't you know that?

Up to this point, the pet food industry has not had to follow any regulations besides labeling what they put into their food. And if you really looked into the ingredient list and researched what Chicken "Meal" or Beef "By-Products" are, you would not be feeding this to your dog unless you didn't care about their health. They are not responsible for testing the actual nutritional value after the food is processed into kibble. They are not responsible for studying long term health.

Also, do you know what happens in rendering plants? Do you really think they will throw out any pieces of meat that are from dead, diseased, and dying animals? Hell no! Do you think they really care where "meat by product" or "meat meal" came from? Or even worse, what kind of meat it is? Is it road kill? Are they from farm animals? Are they from domestic animals? Are they from shelters? If you don't believe this, I understand. It's hard to swallow (literally). But at least believe this.
THIS INDUSTRY IS NOT REGULATED.

Now the FDA has stepped in and is supposedly checking to make sure retailers have pulled all recalled items off their shelves. Even they admit, some of it is still out there. FDA Report This is YOUR responsibility to your pet. Don't expect or assume that the pet food industry, retailers or the FDA is going to fix this problem any time soon.

High profit industry that is not regulated. Hmmmmm.......If that doesn't send a clear message, I dunno what will.