Feline Friday - Sharing

The look on his face shows that Nin is not happy to be sharing the basket with Baggy! 

A little less reluctantly he shared the pillow.

Thankful Thursday - Life lessons from my dogs

I believe each of the dogs in my life is going to have a life lesson for me. I think that is the reason they all find their way into my pack, and I am thankful for their lessons (or sometimes when I am frustrated with them, I say this to myself).

My beloved Loki. He was a great dog with a poor immune system. His lesson to me was joy. Find joy in everything you do and be excited to greet everyone you meet! Run free and be happy, no matter what is happening (even if you are going to the vet for yet more poking and prodding). He was a joyful trooper to the end.

My Gemini Cricket, such a challenging puppy whose life was tragically cut too short. Her lessons to me was grief and recovery and forgiveness. This is a lot for such a little girl to have brought. From her death I learned the true meaning of grief. I learned that no matter how bad things feel, you can get over it (even if it stings like heck every day, your life can go on). I also learned that accidents happen. You can't always prevent them and when they do happen you can't blame yourself. If you do blame yourself for a bit (I think that is natural), you need to forgive yourself.

Hailey's lesson to me is patience. I think anyone who reads this blog on even a semi-regular basis doesn't need any more explanation than that.

I have known these 3 for a long time, but have been giving a lot of thought to Zaphod's lesson. As of right now, I think he is here to teach us about the true meaning of inner peace. He brings this calmness to the pack that we have never had before. Everyone who meets him is drawn to this.

What lessons have your dog taught you?

Wordless Wednesday - Phod

Lee is unwell - VBP

Dear Blogville, 

I hate to report that I have been debilitated (VBP) with a bit on an infection in my nether regions. I get these from time to time. I want to obsessively lick myself clean and then try to kiss my people. They don't like that. 

In the past, these little infections have been  really short lived, so before rushing the hour one way to my vet, we try a little home remedy which involves a warm compress on my private parts. 

I rock a compress

All the attention is mine! 

The advantage to this not feeling well is that I mulct (VBP) all the attention from Phod. My Lady showers me with pets and kisses while holding a compress to my butt.  She can't play ball with him when I am getting all the love.

My Lady said if it isn't gone in a couple days, I have to go to the vet. Let's hope this compress is sufficient (VBP) to treat the infection.

Mischief Monday - I did not run away- by Lee

On Saturday evening my people had to go out and leave me for a million minutes. Before going out they fed us and while Lady was packing up, Man took us out. I have been working hard on my off leash training and my people have been letting me off leash more often. The Man made a mistake to do this when he was in a hurry to leave. While out minding my own business,  I got the scent of the wild turkeys we had seen earlier in the day and I had to follow them.

I did hear my Man and then my Lady calling, but I was too busy sniffing.

A bad picture our Lady took in the fall of the turkeys outside our window. She didn't get a picture on our adventure

My sniffing was interrupted when my Lady met me on the snowmobile path right behind our house. At first I ignored her, as I had turkeys to track. But then she did something very mean. She showed me she had a greenie in her pocket. I had to think about this for a minute but I decided I would give up my hunt for the greenie (as the saying goes, 1 in the hand is worth 2 in the bush). 

My Lady then did the unthinkable because she didn't have my leash with her, she carried me for a bit. This was sucky for me and hard for her cause we were down the hill and it is snowy and a steep walk up. She put me down and had the greenie in her hand and I stayed right with her to the house. I had to wait til we were safe in the house to get the greenie. She said she didn't trust me!

My Lady says I caused the mischief by not coming when called. I think she did by making me pick between turkey and greenie. What do you think?

Black and White Sunday - Loki

I was going through my pictures last week and came across this picture of our Loki who is at the rainbow bridge.  This picture was taken 5 months before he died. At this time, he was fighting his autoimmune disorder and was on a crazy drug cocktail. Besides allowing him to live, this cocktail gave him puppy soft fur. It was a nice side effect.  All those snuggles while he was dying were of a very soft pup. You can see how soft he was!

Tricks and Treats

In case you missed it, it has been very, very cold here this week. Our Lady laughed Friday morning cause it was only -22C and not -27 C and it felt warmer. Because it has been so cold, we haven't been playing outside as much. Our Lady did a great job and we went for walks 4/5 mornings. We did our 1.5 km loop in record time all 4 days. The only day we didn't go out for a walk was Wednesday, the coldest of the days. We thank our Lady for braving -40 C with the windchill to get us some exercise. One of the things we have been doing instead of playing outside, is working on our tricks. Here is a little video of what we have been up to inside. Enjoy!

A special thanks to Dachshund Nola for this great award!