It's Been a While

It's been a while since I updated my blog. But life was pretty routine up until a month ago. Work, dogs, husband, friends, family, and rescue not necessarily in that order. Then everything changed! This is Kinley Elizabeth who now occupies 95% of my day! Good thing she's so cute.

The dogs have been adjusting well, and I'm very proud of them for being so patient and gentle. Although Sadie is the only one who can handle the up and down at night. At least we have more room in bed!

Duke is pretty oblivious.

Sadie is a bit sad she's not the only baby anymore.

Of course it's more work with 3 dogs and a baby, but as long as the dogs still get their walks, food, cookies and attention they are content with the new addition. I can't wait until she's old enough to interact with them and hopefully have the same passion about animals as her parents.

Girls Road Trip!

Wendy and I went to Waterton for a hike today. I have to admit, when she first asked I wasn't sure I wanted to exert that much energy on my day off, but she said I could sleep in until 10 so I was game. I even woke up early this morning and was ready by 9am! I'm so glad I got my lazy ass out of bed. I think we had a great hike!

The girls both loved the snow, Wendy said she wanted to rub her face in it too.

I think Mira is scarier then the wildlife.

Everyone who passed us kept cooing over Lacey and her little backpack. I lost count how many times Wendy itemized what she was carrying.

I couldn't believe the amount of snow at the top of our hike.

We had a little snack at the top

Beautiful Waterton

New Foster Dog

Anyone want the Devil Spawn Pug?............ok, I kid, I kid......... kind of.

Snuggle

Sometimes it's tiring having a dog on top of you every time you sit down, but after talking to a friend last night who's dogs aren't extremely snugly I decided that I wouldn't trade what I have for much.

Any Takers!

Seriously how cute is she? Lola needs a home, anyone?

Survival of the Fittest

When we first moved to our house there was an open field out back. We frequently fell asleep to coyotes howling. Recently they have begun to develop the area back there. This evening we went out to the new school and ran the dogs. As is with most city expansion we have obviously disrupted the natural habitat.

This was in the school field. It was about the size of my lab. Maybe a coyote, maybe a deer, either way very disgusting and Mira tried to gnaw at it.

Annoyed

After much debate I decided to make a complaint to the animal shelter about the cats that attacked Sadie and myself. It wasn't really for me, but more for preventation. What if it had been a small child? The owner admitted his cats were mean, and continues to leave them out at large. My breaking point came when I asked the owners to give me proof of vacination and 6 days later, no paperwork.

I have frustrations with our shelter, but nothing compared to their lack of compassion or uselessness after speaking with them today. Lethbridge has no cat bylaws, so these cats are free to roam the streets and attack the public. I encourage all of you to write to our city council. I was directed to make it attetion the mayor and council. I will be writing my own letter, if you wish to have your name added please let me know.

You can contact via email

mayor@lethbridge.ca

or snail mail

2nd floor City Hall

910-4th Ave South

Leth, Ab

T1J0P6

Attacked!

Sadie and I were attacked today. Not by a dog, or even a human, but by two savage cats. These were not your run of the mill house cats. These were demons from hell. They stalked, circled and plotted against us. At one point the one cat ran up my leg for my face. We retreated bloodied and defeated. I wish I had Duke with me, little bastards.

OCD - Obsessive Compulsive Duke

I'm not a doctor, or a vet, but I do see enough mental disabilities in my occupation to wager a decent hypothesis of the mental heath status of my lab. The verdict? I believe he has a touch of Obsessive Compulsiveness, or what we would call Obsessive Compulsive Tendencies in human psychology. Patients with OCD have rituals and routines, or compulsions that they feel they must do or their anxiety climbs, which is only relieved by performing said compulsion or intensive therapy and usually an extensive medication regime.

Duke, like his human equivalencies, has certain routines and objects of obsession. As I lay snuggled next to him this morning I realized that he only does this with me in the morning, and only after he has eaten breakfast. Furthermore he will only jump on the bed if I pull back the comforter, and at no point does it touch him. This got me thinking about his other compulsions . He must lay by the bathtub, but only if someone is either bathing or showering. He has an oral obsession, he must have something in his mouth when people come to the door. By default this was usually a shoe, but after several late mornings searching for a matching set I make it a point to clear the doorway. If there is nothing present he will grab an arm, leg, or other accessible body part, which obviously doesn't feel good and has led me to create a "go get a toy" command. Now he frantically surveys the house for something to grab, which has known to be a pot or dinner plate from the mornings naughtiness.

In addition to the routines, Duke has obsessions. Light reflections come to mind, but at a more intense obsession is water. He actually does what I've come to discover via google as "water freaking"

A common problem is "water-freaking," that is, once some find they can swim, they will get in any water they can find and swim around and around, often splashing, snapping at the splash, and yipping with excitement. Until they have a strong training foundation, they will not leave the water merely because you call them. If you have a water-freak, avoid water until obedience is well-established, and preferably force-breaking, too. The idea is to avoid reinforcing their enjoyment of playing in the water (so they don't develop a lifelong preference for water-freaking over retrieving).

I guess I have to be thankful that Duke is OCD and not ADHD which seems to be a common disability of labrador retrievers in this area. Duke is actually the easiest dog I have to train formal obedience. Which isn't actually an amazing feat, considering the level of obedience my other two have. And it's probably due, in part, to his OCD, but if I have to deal with it's negative aspects, I'm going to use its positive ones. I was once told by a respected psychologist friend of mine that most successful people have Obsessive Compulsive Tendencies and it's how you use them that equates failure versus success. Too bad Duke couldn't have sessions on the couch.

As a side note, as I sit on at the island in my kitchen typing this, the is sun shining through the window I can see little foot prints on the ceramic stovetop. But the terrier's diagnosis is another post entirely.

Safety First

---

Happy Birthday Sadie!

Sadie turned 5 on February 3rd. Her Dad made her breakfast. Happy Birthday you crazy lady!

---

Windows® phone-your Windows stuff, on the go. See more.

What's the Animal in You?

This is a fun test at www.animalinyou.com - Those of you that know me can judge how true it is =)

Shrew

Genus and species:

Sorex araneu

Collective Term:

A lament of shrew

Careers and Hobbies

Journalist

Paramedic

Librarian

Salesperson

Actor

Traveling

Computing

Thrift store shopping

Sharing does not come naturally to shrews, and they are typically the last to pay their portion at a group dinner. It's not that shrews are greedy, rather they're responding to a compulsive need to save for the future. In this respect they are much like their cousin the mouse, who takes planning for the future to extremes.

With the conviction that it knows what's best for everyone, shrews are always ready with free advice. They seem to delight in butting into other people's private affairs. Sometimes the shrew turns this hobby into a career as a gossip columnist, movie critic, or TV evangelist. But more often than not, it retains its amateur status and practices on its long-suffering friends.

Because shrews are constantly on the move, careers that require concentration and sober thinking are unsuitable. They perform best in chaotic jobs and thrive on the unpredictability of disorder, making them natural production assistants, circus performers, wedding organizers or emergency room technicians.

Their predilection for collecting and organizing things would also make them good librarians or or bookkeepers, while the desire to keep moving makes them suitable for any job requiring travel and creativity.

Shrews' sharp eyes have a knack for spotting the hole in the fence, and with their ability to make instant decisions they impetuously seize the moment and scuttle on through. Their smart mouths and high energy are put good use in the workplace, and they excel as salespeople and journalists. But sometimes their reputation precedes them and they encounter built-in resistance to their pitch even before they've opened their mouths.

Quotes

As Amanda always says - I freakin' love this dog!

Naughty List

Sadie made the naughty list this year, but that didn't stop her grama from buying her the biggest and heaviest present under the tree. Too bad it wasn't a fun present for her. At least it came in handy after the honey incident!

I think she's a little embarrassed about her potty issues.

Money Honey

There's always perks and downfalls of any job. My new(ish) job has many perks, a downfall is being on call. Last night I had to go back to the hospital at 12:30 am. After starting the car and realizing I was still in my pajama's I quickly ran back in to change and off I went. Upon returning I noticed the dogs were covered in something greasy looking, you can imagine my horror when I realized that I left the leaky honey container in the sink. Now it was spread from one end of the house to the next. Carpets, laminate, tile, bedding, dog hair all sticky with honey. Have you ever seen a terrier hopped up on straight sugar with post bath zoomies? Not pleasant at 1 am! Poor husband got the worst of it after his night shift! He asked what to do with one of the dog beds and I told him to throw it out along with Duke! He replied that Duke was wet, cold and outside afraid to come back in and was that good enough!

The Mira Claw

My dogs know very few tricks so the handful we have are a very big deal in our house. My husband taught all the dogs how to "pound". He offers them his fist and they slap it with their paw, it's really just a modified shake a paw. Mira has her own version of how this is done. Instead of just slapping your fist she curls her toes into you and creates a claw with her nails whilst dragging them across the top of your fist, it's very cute although slightly uncomfortable. For whatever reason this amuses my husband and me greatly and somehow made it's way into our pounding technique with one another. Whenever one of us offers a fist to pound the other would do the "Mira Claw". It's really quite silly, but it's all in good fun and I never guessed I would have had to share this ritual with anyone.

About a year ago I started a new job, it's the same position, but in quite a different context and the learning curve was extremely steep. There are several different roles to play and some of them are extremely challenging and take months to master. I was in such role one afternoon, sitting in an important chair and I see the director of our department emerge from his office hole, quite a rare occurrence. He glanced over and saw me conducting this whole crazy operation and I guess it struck him to come over and congratulate me. I'm already busy and flustered from work so to see this elusive man coming over only increased my nervousness and flustered me further, so when he offered his fist in appreciation without thinking my fingers fanned out and curled in a claw formation...............

Yes I "Mira Clawed" my boss. And he's not only my boss, but my bosses boss. At some point while my fingernails were dragging across the top of his fist, I realized what was happening and my whole world stopped. As I stared into his frozen expression of, well confusion, I came to the conclusion that I had two options. I could explain the whole ritual that my husband and I had which was feeling more creepy and insane then silly fun at this point, or I could stop mid claw look away and never think of the incident again. I decided I did enough damage, and in my state I don't think I could have gotten out why I had clawed him without getting admitted down the hall to psych anyway, so I carefully relaxed my fingers and looked back to my computer pretending to look busy.

I don't have my camera, or I'd show you Mira doing the claw. But if you ever want to see the now famous "Mira Claw" when Mira and I are around, don't hesitate to ask! Just specify if you want her or me to demonstrate!

Potty Training 101 By Sadie

Now that I am potty trained my first attempt to relieve myself will be outside. Rule number one -you have exactly 10 seconds from the time I have decided I need to go until the time of my release to grant me access outside. If this allotted time expires I will find an alternate location of my choosing. This location will be discrete and can never be on an easily cleaned surface or you will never learn rule number one. This means that if my dog door is in anyway impeded, closed from the wind, or other elements and you don't notice me surveying the situation I will resort to option 2. Rule number two, if you actually manage to abide by rule number one and I relieve myself outside, when I come back inside I not only expect to be praised with enthusiasm and sincerity, but I will receive a treat of my liking. And not a crappy carrot treat, a real cookie. I will dock you 1 second for each breachment of this policy on the time limit you have in rule number one. If and when you have failed to abide by rule number 2 and have used up all 10 seconds given to you, I will resort back to being un-potty trained. This means that if you expect me to bathroom outside you will need to physically take me out and do the encouragement dance of shame for all the neighborhood to see. Obviously treats will follow. This will continue until I have decided that I am no longer un-potty trained and we can start back with rules one and two.

And I should mention that if there is too much snow on the ground, the wind is blowing too hard, the sun is shining too much, or I just feel like it, I will go where ever I want.

Thank-you for your attention to this sensitive manner,
Sadie

Strange But True

We were in Waterton this weekend and I observed the oddest couple. The first encounter was in town, where they were walking a little dog and carrying their baby in one of those backpacks that you wear in the front (frontpack?). The next time I saw them the baby had on a pink jacket and the wife was holding her. Then the dad came around and put her in a jogging stroller. As I walked by with my 3 beasts she cooed at the baby "aww look at the big puppies!!"

Now this might not seem weird at all except their baby was a dog. Seriously. The dog was dangling in the baby pack as they walked the town. And the dog was pushed in what appeared to be a very expensive stroller, while it's owner pointed out what they seemed to classify as another species when my dogs walked by. I have to add here that I'm positive the dog can walk because when they put it in the stroller it was standing and turned a few circles before laying down.

These people really disturbed me. I think they may actually think their dog is a human baby. Especially because they have two dogs, and one walks around on a leash as it should. People are weird.

Dominance

Sometimes Sadie likes to sit on the other dogs heads.

Summer Stuff and Bad Vets

We've been doing lots of camping this summer. First in our very old boler, which we have since sold and upgraded to a 2004 aerolite. It is about the same length as the boler (16ft) but it has a little slide out, it's very cute. The dogs have been loving all the weekend get aways, some too much.

A few weekends ago we stayed at Lumbrick Falls and our campsite was right on the river. Duke could reach it on his tie out so he was swimming pretty much the entire weekend. The last day he started limping quite bad and by Monday I had him into the vets office. This was not our normal vet, not sure if we even have one at this point, but we were told he blew his ACL and needed surgery, like yesterday. The quote was over $2000. Now if I hadn't known that this vet had a history I most likely wouldn't have questioned it further. As it turns out, this is his very favorite diagnosis, without X-rays I might add. So we went off for a second and then third opinion with X-rays and both disagreed that it was a cruciate injury. Low and behold the very next day Duke was walking fine. Still concerned that it might actually be a cruciate we kept him on bed rest for 2 weeks. The follow up visit with the second opinion told us he may resume normal activity and he has, and he is fine. Now I'm imagining a very different scenario that could have occurred and it makes me furious.

No one wants to put anyone through unnecessary surgery. Its hard on the dog physically and emotionally, its hard on the owner, and its definitely hard on the budget, not that it would have stopped us, but still. I would just like to stress the importance of at least a second opinion here. Before you do anything drastic, please consider this. Not all vets, or doctors for that matter are perfect, there is always more then one solution to a problem, and usually there is more then one diagnosis. Be informed, do your research and ask questions. Do be afraid to be rude! I learned that from a wise friend, and it has saved me more then once!