New Toy

My Lady found the best toy.
It is a stuffy that makes a great sound (it sounds like a duck) and pays off in cookies. Here I am playing with it!

Here is the toy

Lady puts cookies in here

Feline Friday - Making a Break for it!

Last week we had wonderfully warm weather, it felt like summer, it was awesome! Several times during that week I had the door open and I would turn to see this - Baggy on the deck!                                                                                                He never  got further than the deck because Lee would go out and start to make her "upset" noises and herd him back in. I think it was one of those moments that Baggy hated Lee. He really wanted to be in the sun, or checking out the birds in the hedge!  

Happy Birthday Baggy!

Bagheera turns 17 today! We are so thrilled to have a senior pet.

Happy Birthday Baggy!

3 fun Baggy facts:

1) In his youth he would open the freezer and take out and eat bread.

2) He once ate the magnet from the bottom of the shower curtain. It got stuck in his intestines and we had to have it surgically removed. Yes, we still have the magnet!

3) Baggy once successful caught a mouse that was in the house. He truly is our panther!

Wordless Wednesday - Snuggles with my Lady

Agility I is done!

Last night was week 6 of Lee's Agility 1 class at Ottawa Canine School. She has done exceptionally well this time, a lot of this has to do with the fact that her man is a much better handler then her lady:) She has been asked to join an agility 2 class and will start this on Sunday.

Here is her last run in agility 1. She made her lady proud!

In Loving Memory of Max

It is with a very heavy heart that I announce the death of one of our extended pack members. Max, one of my parents dogs, was called to the rainbow bridge today after a short battle with cancer.

Max joined our pack in July of 2011 at the age of 3. He was the lab that gave labs the reputation of being the perfect pet. He was kind and gentle and mellow. He did like to lunge at cars and a few times wandered away, but overall he was a wonderful guy.

Today we sent our love to Tendra, Grammie and the Big Guy. We know all to well the heartbreak they are feeling. 

Max, you weren't with us long enough

and saying goodbye to you will be very tough.

We will miss your slobber and goofy smile,

And walking you for the 100th mile.

We will miss you sitting at our feet,

and all the times you took my seat,

we will miss you lunging at the car,

and the stories of you walking away to far,

you were one of the nicest guys we know,

it is so sad that you had to go,

but perhaps  we will meet someday,

on the eternal beach to forever play!

Visitor

Several times recently, I have spotted this friend in the yard. Sorry the pictures aren't better, but I didn't want to open the door and let the beast out (the pictures were taken about a week and a half ago, when we still had snow!)

 We have had one dog (our Loki) catch a bunny in the backyard, that is enough for me! I hope this bunny moves on soon!


On our walk this evening, we say a bunny and Lee was frozen in hunting mode. When she finally heard us, she turned and walked into a street sign. It was hard not to laugh! 

The Digger - Help Wanted

Last year Lee had one huge hole in the backyard. I didn't love this, but it felt contained, so I could live with it. This year she has dug at least 6 holes. Soon the yard will be one big hole.

Any ideas on how to stop her from digging?


Thanks

Feline Friday - Possible tough choices

Several weeks ago I wrote about my adventures taking Baggy to the vet (see post called The Waiting Room). We have spoken to our vet. His kidney levels remain a little high (really no change from the blood work 6 months before).

The level of treatment we are willing to do for a 17 year old cat is less than if he was younger. We have lived that life of crazy meds and treatments and it is a very tough life.

a sleeping snoring cat!

This is what we have agreed to try.
-The special low protein kidney diet
-blood work in a month
-urine test in a month
-blood pressure test

I worry that doing the more invasive diagnostic tests may actually do more harm than good (would he even make it through an anesthetic? At this point in his life, Baggy isn't suffering. He is actually happier than he has ever been. He can be a little stiff with his arthritis but has no other symptoms. In fact at this time he has no kidney symptoms. This is actually surprising. At this stage in the game (he has already lived past average), we will be willing to do little things like diet to help and of course we would give him a few basic pills (especially for pain), but we are not going to get into the crazy live we lived with Loki.

Aside:  My vet said that even the staff who wasn't at the clinic 2 years ago through the Loki era (my words not his) know about him (usually when I am dealing with a vet I don't know one of the first things they say is "was your dog Loki?"), that is how unique, and perhaps crazy, his treatment was. The Loki legacy lives on!

I am sort of starting to feel like an expert in messy pet health matters. Not a hobby I love, but one that is not so hard when your pet has become a senior! It does make it different, and I know there will be hard days ahead, but I know we will get through them. For now we will enjoy our Baggy and shower him with as much love and affection as he will tolerate (he is a you can love me on my terms kinda guy!)

Lee's Doppelganger

Bear

This is Bear. Bear was recently rescued by Hopeful Hearts from Lebanon. With the exception of a little extra white on her feet and mouth (and of course the missing leg), does she not look so much like Lee? It is creepy! My mutt has a doppelganger

To find our more about Bear and the other great dogs that Hopeful Hearts has rescued visit them at: http://www.hopefulhearts.ca/

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Lee was rescued in Ohio as a puppy. We got her at 8 months. The woman who had her as a tiny puppy took some pictures of her and I scanned them in.  So here she is as a little puppy! 

The un-stuffer strikes again

the crime scene

Approximately a year ago, a crime wave hit an Ottawa home, many stuffed babies fell victim to a to date unnamed assailant. After months of peace, police were called to yet another crime scene. Police will not comment on if they have a suspect at this time. They did confirm that a person of interest from previous un-stuffings, one Miss Hailey Bug, has been questioned. When questioned by reporters Miss Bug said "It is very unfortunate what happened to my dear friend Beaver. He runs with a very dangerous crowd. If you recall, he was found floating lifeless in a water dish once. He really should find nicer friends." 

The victim, Beaver Baby, is recovering in hospital. It is not know if he is expected to make a full recovery or not.

More about me

My Lady was reading another blog, http://mattiedadog.blogspot.ca/ (aside, my lady says she LOVES Mattie Dog and finds him inspiring so if you don't know him check him out), and she saw this and she said I had to do it to. 

Describe yourself in seven words: Excited, destructive, demanding, beautiful, anxious, brilliant, loveable.

What keeps you up at night? thunder, nightmares.

Who would you like to be?  An Olympic runner or a professional digger or maybe a dancer. It would have to be something very active.

What are you wearing right now? My collar. (Stop giving my lady ideas about putting stupid clothes on me).

What scares you? Thunder, being left alone, sometimes some other dogs.

The best and worst of blogging: The best is seeing that other dogs have it just like me (having to tolerate silly humans and being dressed up), worst part is my lady likes to dress me up sometimes and embarrass me in other ways. 

Last website you visited:  http://mattiedadog.blogspot.ca/

One thing you'd change about yourself: I would like to not get so upset when my people leave me. I would like to believe that they will come back to me.

Slankets or no? No! Stop trying to dress me up. I am fine in my own skin and fur thanks!

Senators Furry Fan

"Come guys, wrap this game up so I can take my shirt off!"

"I can't believe they scored on themselves. Maybe Baggy is right, maybe I should cheer for the Panthers."

"I can't believe they lost."

Want a bath?

Lee does not like grooming. We have worked hard to get her to tolerate getting her nails cut, being brushed and brushing her teeth. Our next step, getting her to like a bath. In a year and a half we have never given her a bath (to be honest she hasn't really needed one). This is what happens when we suggest one:

 Let's hope she never needs a bath!

Feline Friday - To Nin

Dear Ninny,

Agility Nin!

We love you a lot,
even if you are the most annoying cat we got!
Please pee in the litter box and not beside,
when you do this our annoyance we cannot hide.
For over 16 years you have always been fed,
you do not need to freak out when you think we are going to bed.
And slow down with that food,
throwing up can't put you in a good mood.
While we love you, we like our space,
even when you climb slowly, we see your face.
You meow more then any cat around,
it can be a very annoying sound.
You are a special cat that if for sure,
our favourite things are when you sleep or purr,
our life would be duller without you in our pack,
we love you, and only have moments we want to send you back!


Love your People

Spring Fever!

On Tuesday, our lovely LeeLee was suffering from spring fever. She spent almost the entire evening running around the backyard and sniffing the bunny tracks from our bunny visitor. Usually at 8pm, she is done. If our room is open she is upstairs in bed, or at the least is sound asleep on the couch. However, on Tuesday she continued to run around the yard and house playing until after 9:30.

One of the things she wanted to play with was the door stop. Many years ago this door stop had a cat head and tail, but they have fallen off so it is just the stuffed body. This body has a brick inside it. It has been sitting in the exact same place since Lee joined our pack a year and a half ago. Lee has never moved it. On Tuesday, in her fevered state she picked it up and threw it. She did this a couple of times and would have continued to be throwing a brick in the house, if I hadn't stopped her. Oh what a girl!

Her toy brick, with a hole from being thrown!

Wordless Wednesday

You are home!

Lee is always very excited when we get home and likes to jump up. We have been working to eliminate this problem.  We have been unsuccessful with this in the past (Gemi jumped and nipped hard all her life!), but are hopeful this time will be better.

What we are trying to do is teach her to greet people at the door with a toy. Having a toy in her mouth seems to stop the jumping.

Yesterday I got home from work and she had her toy. She was excited but did not jump. I was so happy. I let her out, we had some love and she didn't jump. Then I went upstairs to change out of my work clothes and as soon as I got into the bedroom she got so excited she jumped. This was like 5 minutes after I got home, so it seems we may have just taught a delay in jump, but I still see it as progress!

The Waiting Room

I took Bagheera to our vet clinic, Ottawa Vet Hospital on Saturday for some follow up blood work. His thoughts on the trip - he hated it. He complained all the way in the car, screamed in a way I have never heard when they took him out of his crate and put him back in his crate, but was good for the blood work.

I have spent a LOT of time in the waiting room of this clinic (which is a 24 hour emergency clinic) and have seen and heard some very interesting things over the years, but this weekend was one of my favourties.

It was unusual that I was the only person at the clinic on a Saturday morning, maybe because of March Break.  I am playing with my phone when two men come in carrying a closed rubbermaid container. I hear them say "Hi, we called about our dead cat."  This struck me as amusing, not that their cat was dead (by the way, she was over 19, so she had a good life), but the fact that they brought her in that sort of container. It made me wonder, how would I transport one of my cats if they died.

My favourite moment though was when the receptionist asked the guys if the cat had long or short hair and they said "Long hair, but we shaved it all off, so no hair" and they started laughing. I was trying to imagine what this poor dead cat in the rubbermaid container looked like!

I have seen a lot of people saying goodbye to their furry friend at the clinic, but I have never seen anyone not crying about it. I loved that this couple saw the humour in the situation and could celebrate the life of their very old cat. I also liked them because they told me my cat was handsome!

Happy Monday!

Thinking of her

Today our Gemini Cricket would have been 7. We are thinking of her and missing her a little more today then most. 

This is a picture of the sky that I took when we were in Norway in 2009. I was sitting on top of a fjord in Bergen watching the sunset (I believe this was nearly 10pm). It was one of the most beautiful sunsets I had ever seen.

I am not a religious or spiritual person, I consider myself an agnostic with Judeo-christian tendencies, however, there was something about this sky that made me imagine heaven. So on days like today when I am missing a pup or two, I like to imagine them running and playing on these clouds. Ok, Gemi would not be running, she would be taking her sweet ass time, while Loki would be 200 feet ahead, running with a smile. I don't like to be wrong, but I hope I am wrong about the existence of an afterlife and that someday we will all get to be over the rainbow bridge together playing in the clouds.

Miss ya Gemi.

Feline Friday - Love

Ok, I admit I put Lee's arm over Baggy, but they were laying on the couch beside each other and they stayed like that for a few minutes. Those of you who know Baggy are in shock! He is a grumpy old dog hater, so why is he letting Lee do this to him! Further proof he has lost his mind!

Happy Friday!

Proud Lady - We have progress

People who read this blog regularly will know that we have had a battle to get Lee's nails cut. We have been working a lot on getting her to not freak out and lose her mind. We had it so she would let us cut one nail. I admit, we are both a little nervous cutting her nails. Our other dogs all went to the groomer and we are extra nervous about cutting Lee's too short and undoing all our hard work. Since we were only cutting one and not that short, they got long and things like this would happen:

Scratch from the Lee because I wasn't rubbing her tummy correctly!

We got brave and took her to get her nails cut at PetSmart. First we took her for a good run, hoping she would be tired. Then I asked them to just try to do the front nails. After looking at her file, the young woman said "Ok, we will try." I could tell she was skeptical. I felt slightly embarrassed, I can only imagine what her file says! The one groomer held the cookies the other cut and it was a miracle, while there was so crying and yelling, she did not try to pull away, she did not try and jump off the table, people did not come to the window to watch and stare. They were actually able to cut all her nails.

So proud! Will keep working on this and maybe it will get even better!

Wordless Wednesday

Agility Week 3

Lee and her man make a great agility team!  Here they are. This was the first time Lee had ever done this course. She rocked it! So proud!

Emma at 4 months

Emma came over for a play date yesterday. Best play date yet! Lee was sooooo tired after, while I was making the bed she had unmade, she didn't even move when I threw the covers over her!


4 fun facts about Emma:

1) She can't sit or down, but she will do pretty (walk on her back legs) and give you 5.
2) She is the loudest drinker I have ever heard (and she drinks a lot).
3) When she is excited she leaks!
4) She doesn't bark or make much noise. The only time she made noise during the play date was when Lee accidentally stepped on her!

Emma: "Your are not going to bitey-face me back are you?"

Just chillin'

Look at my pretty colours! 

A city walk

Lady: On Thursday, Lee and I found our walk a little too blustery. We like to be able to put our heads up when we walk.

Lee: I hated the blowing snow. I had waited so nicely for my walk and it was yucky. Stupid winter.

Lady: Friday's walk was full of other adventures and doesn't get an A+ either.

Lee: I can't help that it was an insane day in the neighbourhood. First there was fresh snow and I had to sniff. I am sorry if I don't want the neighbour petting me. I don't know her. 

Lady: Lee you are right, you don't have to tolerate strangers touching you, and you handled it well, it was more what happened up in the field.

Lee: Oh the field, it was full of great smells. I was hunting for a friend.

Lady: We were walking on a city path through a field that is off a very busy street. Lee was going crazy and I couldn't figure out why, then I saw this:

Deer track

Lee: It was a great new smell and I wanted to hunt.

Lady: Lee was smelling like crazy and then a guy came up the path behind her and she was truly scared. I thought she was going to pull my arm off she was so startled and then it happened again.

Lee: I thought one of those people were what made the yummy smelling tracks so I got excited.

Lady: You were scared, you had your tail between your legs, you ears back and your hackles out. You were walking so fast I could barely keep up you.

Lee: You say scared, I say too excited.

Lady: It took like 10 minutes of walk away from the deer prints to calm you down. I had never seen you so anxious for a long time. Then you saw those dogs . . . .

Lee: I hate those dogs. If you had any idea the nasty things they were saying when they were barking at me, you would hate them too.

(Editor's note: There are 2 big dogs, retrievers I believe, that live up the street 7 or so houses. They are not dogs who are allowed to sniff other dogs and for some reason when Lee sees them, she gets angry and not her self. These are the only dogs that trigger this reaction. We wonder if they were allowed to sniff if this would go away, but for now, we just try and avoid them).

Lady: It was not the best ending to an already tense walk.

Lee: No it was not, but I had a great sleep after this walk. Can we go back to the good smelling place today?

Feline Friday - New Use for the Dog

Baggy found a new use for Lee this week.  She makes a great pillow!

Happy Friday!