Settling In

Beezly is finally settling in to her new home.
It took her about 24 hours to warm up to the notion of interacting with the other dogs.  It was almost as if someone had flipped a switch, suddenly she decided that chasing Phoebe around the yard would be fun and now they have a grand ol' time running around.

Of course the giant breeds have short energy bursts and then they are ready to pass out, so play time is never more than a few minutes.

The stinker has taken to ripping branches off of our shrubs.  I don't mean chewing them off, I mean ripping them. She just grabs a hold and with one yank, the branch comes clean off, and then she brings the stick to you. I don't encourage playing fetch with a stick, altough she does like fetching the football.

Beezly has had diarrhea (TMI) since she arrived.  At first we attributed it to the long car ride and new home, but it has persisted. The vet checked her and discovered she had a parasite, so now she's on some meds. Hopefully that will clear things up, as I'm tired of following her around the yard with a waterhose to wash down her pudding-puddles.

True to the breed, she's a very quiet dog.  She's been with us 4 days now, and it was only just this morning that I heard the faintest of "woofs" out of her. She's a very sweet dog, usually content to lie next to my recliner or at my feet, or if I'm in the kitchen then she sprawls on the floor in there.

 

So at the end of the day, Phoebe is enjoying having her new playmate, she comes in from playtime exhausted!

And when we walk all three girls each evening, they are doing very well together. Beezly is learning to sit when we reach each intersection. On rare moments, I do actually get all three to sit together, just not long enough to actually take their photo.

Olivia has accepted her new sister. Of course she makes no effort to play or really interact with her, but at least she's not trying to bite her head off either. I'm not too sure I foresee therapy pet work in Beezly's future, especially if we can't get her to stop mouthing everything, as I'm afraid she'd accidentally bite someone, and if we can't get her hind legs and hips in better shape, then I don't think she could handle the long walks along the tiled floors of the facilities we visit.

Time will tell what the future holds for us, for now we're just all settling in.

Never cease to be amazed!

I took Phoebe to the Jefferson Memorial Forest this past Friday for their monthly Howl at the Moon hike.  None of the usual hikers or dogs we were accustomed to seeing were there, so it was a totally new group for us to be around.  There was a husband/wife with their 2 dogs Beetle and Wendy (pictured above), and a German Shepherd named Ethel and a Standard Poodle named Jagger.  Jagger is a guide-dog in training, and Ethel already is a guide dog.  Her owner was a young woman named "Mary" who is blind. 
I thought for sure we'd be taking a very easy trail since we had someone in our group with a disability.  Shame on me!!  Apparently Mary and her father are frequent hikers at JMF and know the trails well.  She and Ethel navigated the trails with no problems what-so-ever!  The only problem came when the group would stop and Ethel would keep going, trying to pass us, thus causing her owner to run into the back of me.  After the first time, I made it a point to let them know we were stopping so she could stop Ethel.
So not only was I amazed at this young woman's independence and ability to get around even on uneven ground, my very own Phoebe proceeded to amaze me with her own behavior.
Before we got started on the hike, we all introduced ourselves and our dogs.  Since Ethel is a guide dog and people/pets aren't supposed to approach her while she's working, I made it a point to keep Phoebe away.  Ironically, she never even tried to go to that dog like she did the other three.  And since I didn't let Phoebe get near Ethel, this also meant she never got close to Mary (until the hike was over).
Despite never getting close enough to really interact with them, somehow, Phoebe seemed to know there was something special about this pair.
Despite Phoebe's own lack of hearing and diminished vision, she knew.
We started off at the front of the pack, but after the first break when we had paused to give the girl and her father a chance to catch up to us, we then took a place in the middle of the pack, and this is when the trail started to get a little more rugged.  There were several points along the trail that it was very narrow and there were steep drop-offs to one side, too narrow for Phoebe to walk next to me, so I'd let her leash out and allow her to walk in front of me at the end of the lead.  Several times during this, she would suddenly stop and look back.  At first I thought she was looking to make sure I was still there, but then I noticed she would lean to one side or the other as if to look past me.  I finally realized she was checking to see if Ethel and her owner were still keeping up.
Phoebe did this several times along the way when the trail was at it's most rugged.  Once she had confirmed they were still back there, she turned around and kept going. 
For whatever reason, it was as if Phoebe had appointed herself as their guardian for the evening.
Once the hike was over and we were back at the cars, the young woman finally approached Phoebe and petted her.  Like I said, this was Phoebe's first contact with her, and yet she somehow knew from the get go that there was something special about the girl and even now, Phoebe didn't try to pop Ethel on the head as she does with all other dogs she meets for the first time.  She knew.  I don't know how, but she knew not to bother Ethel.
I will never cease to be amazed by animals and their perceptions and insights to other beings!

Beezly

Finally, the rescue-gods have smiled upon us.  I loaded Phoebe in the van Saturday morning and we made the 3 hour drive to Avon Indiana, just west of Indianapolis, to meet what we hoped would be come our newest family member, Daisy.
OMG! What a sweety! 
The girls hit it off and how could you NOT fall in love with that sweet face? 
The rescue organization is delivering her to us on Friday, I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!

We've renamed her "Beezly".

Beezly is a 10 month old English Mastiff that hasn't had the happiest of beginnings in this cruel world.

She was found living in a small apartment, confined to a crate she'd outgrown for the overwhelming majority of the day.  Her owners had put a pinch-collar on her (hate those things! Wish they'd outlaw them!!) and never took it off and even worse, never loosening it to allow for her growth.  When she was recued, it had to be cut off. 

I don't know what the hell people are thinking sometimes or if they even think at all.

I'm not too sure she's ever been brushed in her life, as she seems to still be sporting her winter coat, it's very thick and she's shedding something awful. 

I've already got an appointment with our vet and with the groomer for the afternoon she arrives and she's already enrolled in obedience school for the following week. 

Our home is getting ready to turn in to a 3-ring circus (again), but who cares?!

Phoebe behaved so well at the meet and greet, and minded her manners.  I was sooo proud of her!!

I'll post more photos soon once she's in our home and interacting with Olivia and Phoebe.

Random pix

This was from the Walk & Roll event at 4th Str Live, Phoebe was quite a hit with many of the children there.

 Saw this moth at a friends house, isn't it way cool?  Looks like an owl.  Nature is amazing!!

 This was Phoebe's present she got on her 1 yr. anniversary.

I took Phoebe to work with me on "take your dog to work" day.  She did very well.  It looks like she's trying to eavesdrop at my boss' door.

Olivia modeling the "saddle blanket" I made...

And our model Phoebe.

My 2 beautiful girls!!

3 months+

Egads, has it really been over 3 months since my last post?  Time flies when you're having fun and that's what I've been doing, having fun.  Well okay, not ALL fun, but some fun.

I've been quilting up a storm. 
I finished the crazy quilt I was working on back in the spring when attending quilting classes and have since finished another small quilt with dog-themed material, a "saddle blanket" with a patriotic theme for the girls to wear on there pet-therapy visits around July 4th, Memorial Day, Flag Day & Veterans Day Holidays, and I'm now working on  biscuit-quilt.  So many projects, so little time!!!!

Both girls are doing well, both still visiting nursing homes and Phoebe has even added a childrens group home to her tour of duty.  She does SO well with the kids!  One of the counselors told me after our last visit that the hour they got to spend with Phoebe was often the only happy time those kids had all month ('til our next visit).  So sad, and yet, so nice that we can give them something happy to look forward to.
Phoebe just celebrated her 1 year anniversary with us this past weekend.  I had recently entered her rescue story in a contest and was informed this past Friday that her story won (and it wasn't even the kind of contest I had to beg people to go and vote for), so we're awaiting her gift package in the mail.  That all took place due to the world of Twitter.  Here's the link to that company's website and her story: http://www.ilovedogs.com/2012/06/reader-rescue-story-phoebe/

I resumed horseback riding lessons in May, and continue to ride most weekends at another facility just to help them keep their horses exercised so they don't get fat and lazy, and I'm loving every minute of it!!  If only we could get rid of automobiles and go back to the days of horse & buggy!

About a month ago I took a tour of Undulata Farm in Shelbyville...  what an awesome place!!  If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend it.  It's free, informative, and breathtaking. The historic house was amazing all by itself, but throw in the tour of the stables and the saddlebred horses and it was just a great time!!

I'm still going to the gym during the wee hours of the morning, although I've scaled back to 4 or 5 days a week instead of 7...  I can't keep going thru life exhausted from a total lack of sleep all the time.

Happy 4th of July to everyone out there!
I'm actually working today, my choice.  I'd rather take my holiday on Friday and have a 3-day weekend. 

Just had to run outside and get a hug from one of the local police officers.  Whenever they pull over somebody or there's an accident out here on the main road, they direct the victim(s) into our parking lot to get them out of traffic, so when I saw 3 police cars pull onto the lot, I had to go stick my head out and see what was going on.  One of the officers is a long time friend of mine, an even older friend of my husband's and was in our wedding, so I wasn't just frisking a random officere, it was a justified hug.  ;)

I'm on Twitter daily now, so if any of you are on twitter-land, look me up!

New Years Resolution

One of my New Years Resolutions was to run a race, something longer than the usual 5k events I normally particiapte in. So why not kick off the year on New Years Day by participating in a 10 mile run. Yes, I said MILE, not "k".
Honestly, I don't know how people who run marathons do it!




It was a cold and blustery day and the temperature only went down as the day progressed, can't you see how we're all nearly freezing?



There were several hundred in the race. It was a fairly flat course.



John went to the event with me and took some pix.

Getting ready to cross the finish line here.

Well, I didn't set any land speed records, but I was super proud of myself for finishing in under 2 hours. I know the winner did it in under an hour, but considering I've never gone such a distance before in my life (and don't foresee ever doing it again), I was beyond thrilled.

So how are your New Years Resolutions coming along??

ps...

I started this post back at New Years, don't know why it was never posted, but I suppose better late than never.

Is blogging a thing of the past?

Yes, I think that slowly but surely, it is going the way of the vinyl record. Only used by a few nostalgic blogger-buffs or those of us that can't ever let go and move on with the times.

My blogs have become fewer and farther in between and occasionally I feel a twinge of guilt over my lack of posts.

But now that I've taken a moment to look at some of the blogs of those I used to follow faithfully, I don't feel so bad. With the exception of 2, all the others have been anywhere from 4 - 12 months since their last post, so I guess I'm not alone in my lack of blogging.

Should I say fare-the-well to blogging all together?

Well, I probably should, but I won't. Every once in a great while I have something to say that requires more than the 140 characters that Twitter allows me to do my tweeting with. And even if nobody really reads my blogs anymore, that's okay, my blogs have never been done for the sake of others having reading materail. It's been more of a way for me to vent my frustrations or do a little bragging or just to serve as a journal of sorts.

As I went back and looked today, I saw three different posts I'd started and never completed and they were still in the draft-stage, this one included. Obviously life has become so busy for me that I can't even finish my thoughts anymore.

Twitter

As you may have noticed, my blogs keep getting further and farther in between. Life is busy. I'm still not doing the facebook-thing, but I am on Twitter and that has become my source for getting the local & national news and my outlet for what I'm thinking at the time.
I haven't quite figured out why some of these people keep following me. Maybe they think my thoughts are interesting, maybe they are twitter-stalkers and have no life, maybe they just "collect" people to stalk.
It's for sure there are a lot of pathetic and needy people out there, always begging for "RT"'s (re-tweets). I can understand if it's for a charitable cause, but just so there begging-post will show up under a tweet from somebody famous? Gimme a break! Get a life!!!!!
I had signed up for my twitter account about a year ago and never did anything with it, as I really didn't understand it. It's only been in the past month or so that I've gotten back on there, I still don't fully understand everything, but I'm learning. A lot of the messages are somewhat cryptic, as you're very limited in space for posting your message, 140-characters I think.
I don't read every message I get, as I get waaaaay too many. Some people tweet about anything and everything they are doing or see. I just scan thru it, basically I'm becoming a speed reader, and if I see something that piques my interest, then I'll read the whole thing or click on the link that's included.

There are a few freaks out there that have tried following me and I block them right away. I could set my account up as private and have to approve everyone that requests, but I don't object to strangers following me, in general. What I do object to is all these freaks (and thus far, it seems to be all women) that have XXX or other porno language in their names or descriptions that follow me. WTH??? Sorry, I don't understand why these people degrade themselves that way. I don't need that crap in my life.

So if anyone is interested in finding me on twitter, my handle is: @imagr8daneluvr

Let me know if you're on Twitter too!!

New stuff

So here's an original blog on current events in my life, and not one that was started weeks or months ago and I'm just now getting around to posting.

Phoebe earned her CGC (Canine Good Citizens) title last Saturday. Yea for Pheebs!!! I know it's no secret, I'm crazy in love with my girls and have always been super proud of Olivia's accomplishments in spite of her being deaf/partially blind and facing the death-chamber as an infant pup. But I have to say, I am even more proud, if that's even possible, of Phoebe.
I really thought she would take a year or more (if ever) to be ready for visits to the nursing homes, but she made it in 7 months time. She has proven to be such a super-smart little girl (okay, big girl), and she keeps us entertained non-stop. If she's not "talking" to us, then she's just innocently being cute and melting my heart.
After I get home from the gym in the mornings, I usually lay back down for about an hour and that's my cuddle time with the girls. Livvie curls up against John's pillow and Phoebe starts off lying up against me with her head on my chest, looking at me with those beautiful blue eyes. After a few minutes, she gets up and moves to the foot of the bed and curls up against my feet. This is my happiest time of day and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I am truly sick and tired of these so called "professionals" (and I use that term loosely) that chastise me for using a Gentle-Leader to walk my girls. Why? Why must they do that? I mean, good for them if they can walk their dog with just a flat collar or better yet, off-lead. But how I choose to walk them is my business. It's not hurting my girls, in fact, just the opposite. It keeps them from trying to drag me around and gives me some control. And it's a hell of a lot better than those awful pinch-collars that many of those same professionals use. Let me put one of those things around their neck and jerk on it a few times!! Mind your own business people!! I don't tell you how to walk your dog.

My quilting class started again three weeks ago. The rest of the class is doing the usual assignment, but the teacher has me doing a crazy-quilt. My biggest problem is just finding time to work on it, I'm so freaking busy. Those 2 hours in class just fly by. In addition to quilting keeping me busy, there are the visits to the nursing homes with the girls and a new facility we'll be adding to our list in May that's a group home for abused girls. I'll just be taking Phoebe there, so it will be an interesting change of pace for us. I'm scaling back on the number of walks/5ks that I'll participate in this year. I'm planning on resuming riding lessons in May if all goes well. The Luci Center where I volunteer has their annual "The Luci Ball" coming up soon, it's their big fundraiser for the year. I was asked the other day to help sew horse-ornaments. I'm not too sure I'm qualified to do those, but I'll give it my best shot, nothing ventured nothing gained, right?
I've been sick as a dog this week with my allergies. Something is viciously had me sneezing like crazy and constantly blowing my nose. Allergies suck! As bad as they are right now, I know they'd be a bazillion times worse if I weren't getting shots.
So I think that about catches you up on my life.
Visit me on Twitter: @imagr8daneluvr

It's been a helluva past few days

It's been a helluva past few days.

This past Thursday, I dropped Olivia off at the vets office before going to work as she was getting her teeth cleaned. It was difficult, emotionally that is, to withhold food from her that morning. I felt so guilty!! She stood in front of her food dish wagging her tail, looking at it, then at me, then back at the dish. I wanted to cancel the appointment just so I could feed her. And then I felt as if I totally deceived her when it was time to leave. I put Phoebe in her crate and Livvie went to get in hers, but then she saw me grab her leash and she got so excited! I'm sure she thought it was going to be going to a nursing home for a visit and get fed lots of treats, so no doubt she felt duped when I took her into the vets office. **GUILT**

She growled at the tech that came out to take her from me, so I ended up walking her back to the kennel and closing the door on her. Leaving her at the vets office was the 2nd hardest thing I've ever had to do... I'm sure you can figure out what the MOST difficult thing(s) were, and most of them took place at that very office as well.

Phoebe had an appointment there that afternoon to get her yearly vaccinations. She did very well, no growling, and is up to 108 lbs. (Livvie is up to a whopping 118 lbs. Needless to say, she's going on an immediate diet to get her back down to 110-ish.).

I was happy to get both girls back home where they belonged.
Friday morning, Olivia had a touch of diarrhea which I figured was a residual effect of the anesthesia. She didn't act anxious or as if she felt bad, and it was a pure loose stool, sorta half loose-half chunky (tmi??) So I didn't give it much thought when I put her in the crate and headed off to work.

Needless to say, I should've called in sick and stayed home with her.

When we arrived home that evening, poor Olivia had had an accident in crate earlier in the day and been forced to lie in it, waiting for us to get home.

The crap was everywhere! All the blankets had to be taken outside and hosed down before I'd even put them in the washer (it took 4 loads of laundry to get all the stuff she'd soiled clean), her mattress was covered, the wall behind the crate, the blankets that were lying outside of the crate, of course the crate itself, and most importantly, poor Olivia...

Friday was one of the few cool days we've had of late and unfortunately, she got a cold bath. She wasn't happy, but there was NO way I was going to put her in the car and haul her someplace to give her a warm bath. It took forever to get everything clean. Poor Phoebe had to be kept shut up in her crate during all this, and the girls dinner was much delayed that evening. John and I had had plans to go to a fish-fry for dinner, but needless to say, after cleaning up all that sh*t, we decided to stay in.

I gave Livvie some Immodium that evening and again Saturday morning, and by that afternoon, her poop was back to normal.

So as if all that wasn't bad enough...
Saturday morning I was pressed for time as I went to the dog show bright and early, partly to cheer on my friend's dane in the show ring, but mostly because I wanted to shop for some doggy items... more on that in the next blog. I left there and rushed to a quilt show before finally heading out to the farm.

The farm is down several horses over the past few months. Three have passed away and three more went to live elsewhere because they were never going to make good therapy horses. Very few horses come into the barn anymore, so chores are light without a bunch of stalls to clean or horses to move around, and only a couple are getting fed grain. We're normally out of there within 2 to 3 hours, and that's just because we take our time. This past Saturday was to be quite different.

Our area has barely had a winner season and we've practically gone from cold temps right in to summertime temps, with not much of a spring to help us adjust to the temperature changes. So when it has all of a sudden hit 80+ degrees, it's thrown everyone for a loop, including the horses who haven't shed out their winter coats yet. One pony in particular was suffering in the heat, with labored breathing and some blood running from nose. Okay, try not to panic!

Got him to the barn, the vet was in route as was the farm's director, got him hosed down and some meds in him to help reduce the fever and then all we could was stand there and wait for what seemed like an eternity for the vet to arrive.

Ever notice how when you're in a desperate situation like that, every minute that passes seems to take an hour?

The bleeding had stopped, but the vet had to sedate him in order to put a scope up his nose. He never got the chance to look into the scope as he didn't get it inserted but just a few inches when the blood started pouring out. And it ran and it ran and it ran. I didn't think it would ever stop bleeding. Every time it would just about clot and slow to a trickle, the pony would snort and all this clotted blood would come spraying out and it would start all over again. The aisle-way in the barn looked like a slaughter house by the time he stopped bleeding and we got him into a stall.

The vet had a more pressing emergency back at the clinic, so he had left, but not before listing several possible causes for the bleeding. I'm hoping it was nothing more than a hematoma(sp?), but fear it could be a tumor. We're keeping our fingers crossed.

Sunday morning, he got shaved. He'll be much cooler now.

Enough stress in my life, I needed to come back to work so I could relax. ;)

Twitter & other stuff

As you may have noticed, my blogs keep getting further and farther in between. Life is busy. I'm still not doing the facebook-thing, but I am on Twitter and that has become my source for getting the local & national news and my outlet for what I'm thinking at the time.
I haven't quite figured out why some of these people keep following me. Maybe they think my thoughts are interesting, maybe they are twitter-stalkers and have no life, maybe they just "collect" people to follow 'cause it makes them feel important.
It's for sure there are a lot of pathetic and needy people out there, always begging for "RT"'s (re-tweets). I can understand if it's for a charitable cause, but just so there begging-post will show up under a tweet from somebody famous? Gimme a break! Get a life!!!!!
I had signed up for my twitter account about a year ago and never did anything with it, as I really didn't understand it. It's only been in the past month or so that I've gotten back on there, I still don't fully understand everything, but I'm learning. A lot of the messages are somewhat cryptic, as you're very limited in space for posting your message, 140-characters I think.
I don't read every message I get, as I get waaaaay too many. Some people tweet about anything and everything they are doing or see. I just scan thru it, basically I'm becoming a speed reader, and if I see something that piques my interest, then I'll read the whole thing or click on the link that's included.
There are a few freaks out there that have tried following me and I block them right away. I could set my account up as private and have to approve everyone that requests, but I don't object to strangers following me, in general. What I do object to is all these freaks (and thus far, it seems to be all women) that have XXX or other porno language in their names or descriptions that follow me. WTH??? Sorry, I don't understand why these people degrade themselves that way. I don't need that kinda crap in my life.

So far I've done good not tweeting about things and people that really upset me, like my job/co-workers, or family members. I haven't named names, unless it's been in a good way.... so far.
Let's hope I can stick to that personal rule.
Some of the people I follow are friends from school or family, some of the local news/weather, some charitable organizations I associate with, and definitely some famous people. It's fun to listen to some of their banter with each other. Sometimes it's actually informative, other times a few have annoyed me with just how vulgar they are on a regular basis that I've lost respect for them and stopped following. Not mentioning in names here J.R.
It would appear that some people never sleep as they are tweeting non-stop all day and all night. I did reconnect with an old cyber-friend from Australia, so it's nice keeping up with her again.

So aside from Twitter, life is pretty good right now (aside from the job). I emailed a contractor a LONG list of repairs we need done to the house. I dread him coming to the house and the estimate we'll get, but some stuff has sat un-useable or in disrepair or half-assed repaired for too many years. Sorry honey, but you're no handy-man.

I've recently resumed horseback riding and am having the time of my life. We have plans to go to the Apassionata show at the end of April and I can hardly wait. If you don't know what I'm talking about, google it. It's awesome!!

Both Phoebe and Olivia are doing well. Phoebe still won't go potty on a leash when we walk her, but insists upon only going in our backyard or in her crate. Strange child!! Both girls are going to the nursing homes now and doing very well. They are such polar opposites. Olivia with her gently, aloof demeanor that has to be coaxed in with food to be petted, and then there's is Phoebe who could care less about the treats, all she wants is to be loved on and "In Your Face".
But the residents/patients/staff seem to love both of them when they visit. I just with I had more time to take them both out to more locations.

So that's about it. If you'd like to follow me on Twitter, just log in there and search for my id: imagr8daneluvr that will take you to me.

NOT a Dr. Seuss story

The goat lost her coat, so over I did bend.
Then out of nowhere, did lumber up my old friend.
A bovine in season had her eye on my rear end!

Okay, as I said, this is NOT a Dr. Seuss story.

So I'm at the farm Saturday afternoon with my fellow volunteers and we'd gone into the pasture to feed the cow & goat, and to access the ponies' pasture.
The goat, Bernadette, a sweet black and white ol' girl, wears a doggy-coat when the winter temperatures dip down very low. She's not in the best of health and shivers, who can blame her?, it was only 25 degrees outside. But her coat had come off and was lying in the field. I retrieved it and was bent over, trying to secure the Velcro straps beneath her belly, when the normally sweet and docile cow, Gertie, decided I looked like a good mate. And by mate, I don't mean friend or casual acquaintance. Gertie was "in season" and looking for some bovine lovin'!
I had my back to the barn door and was only vaguely aware of Gertie coming up behind me, but regardless, I never would've expected such behavior from the ol' girl. Next thing I know, my fellow volunteers are gasping and shouting out "Gertie, NO!!" and in the same moment, I felt her trying to climb on my back.
I never knew I could move so fast!!!
I was twisting and scrambling to get away before she could get mounted, but Gertie was persistent. But her persistence wasn't as strong as my insistence that she leave me alone. She followed me relentlessly wherever I went around that field and barn. She showed little interest in the other girls, having fixated on me.
What does the average dairy cow weigh anyways? A 1000 lbs? 2000? I don't know. With my history of back problems, I wouldn't even want a 20 lb. monkey going for a piggy-back ride, much less a full grown, rutting cow.
Needless to say, I became the "butt" of many jokes that afternoon (pun intended), yes, even many made by me. Hey, if you can't laugh at yourself...
I felt bad as we were leaving the pasture, as Gertie finally turned her attentions towards poor little Bernadette. I now know how her coat came off in the first place and the Velcro became torn, no doubt when Gertie was mounting her. Now her coat was just hanging around her neck and she was walking all over it. It was almost certain she'd get hurt trying to get away from the cow if she had the damaged coat tangled around her legs. Darn!! Now I had to go back in there and get the coat off her and face Gertie again.
Fortunately, no further altercations occurred.
The aches and pains started to set in as the afternoon wore on. I think it was mostly just the muscles tightening up from the sudden scramble I had to make to escape her. I took a Lortab when I got home, and later was flying too high to care about any pain. ;)

Dog Bite

In case you missed the news story about the dog that bit the anchorwoman, here's the link:
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/cutline/rescued-dog-bites-nbc-anchor-face-during-feel-141755422.html

I hate hearing of anybody that gets bit by a dog, unless of course it's an intruder being bitten by a dog defending it's owner/home.
While I won't exactly say that the reporter deserved what she got, I will say that it's a shame that some people never learn!
How many times does someone have to get bitten by doing something so foolish? I mean honestly! How stupid to get face to face with a dog you don't know. Just because it's never done anything like that before, doesn't mean it won't ever. Just like people, dogs can have a "bad day" and not feel well or just be moody.
Use a little common sense people!! Haven't you been told enough times in your life that you should always ask before petting some else's dog? And how many times do you have to be told not to get face to face with a strange dog?

I can't begin to tell you how many times I've had perfect strangers walk up to me and one of my giant furbabies and just start petting them, and even worse, get down so they are on eye-level with the dog(s) and put their nose to the dog(s) nose. I mean, seriously!, of all the stupid things!!! Or even if they do ask and I grant permission, they aren't content to just pet the dog in a gentle manner, instead they have to get overly enthusiastic in their petting and practically smack the dog. I'm sure they are entending it as a "pat", but because it's a giant dog they feel they can pat harder, but seriously, a gently pat, a light scratching under the chin or behind the ears goes a long way toward keeping the dog calm and well-behaved. By rough-housing when you pet the dog, it can get the dog all stirred up and make him/her very difficult to handle and create a dangerous situation.
If it weren't for the fact that my dog would be taken away from me and have to be retired from the pet-therapy program assuming I got them back (and I'd probably have to pay some kind of fine and possibly get sued), a part of me almost wishes the dog would bite the stupid person, just to teach them a lesson. But I'm guessing that foolish person wouldn't learn, and in time, would do it again.
Do I get face to face with my dogs? You bet, but they are MY dogs and I can read their moods and behaviors pretty well.
Do I get face to face with dogs I know that don't belong to me? Sometimes, depends on the dog and how well I know it, and even then, I don't force myself upon the dog.
Do I get face to face with a strange dog? Hell no!!
Now that's not to say that I haven't had strange dogs come up to me and start licking me in the face, but I certainly wasn't the one that initiated the face to face situation.

Seriously folks, I can't beg of you enough, please, Please, PLEASE! ask before petting someone else's dog, and above all else, teach your children to ask before even approaching someone with a strange dog.

Catching up

Wow, I actually have a few free minutes to spare here, so I thought I'd blog and update the world on our lives.
I don't even remember what my last blog was at this moment, think it might've been about our cable tv issues. I'm happy to report that after 3 visits to our house by 4 technicians, they finally have things working properly. Yea!!!

Monday of last week was a bittersweet day.
First off, we finally had our sweet puppy-boy Eliott put down. It was a difficult decision, as I mentioned before that his health was still pretty good overall, but with his ever declining ability to walk or stand up, we finally decided it was time to let go. As I led him from the house, I said, "let's go see Bootsy" (Bootsy being his best pal that we had lost last June). Poor thing, he fell in the driveway and we had to pick him up and load him into my car, but he seemed to enjoy the car ride, he was alert and watching the world pass by, perhaps looking for his Bootsy along the way. Now he is once again with her.
After we left the vet's office, we raced home to get Phoebe and take her to our therapy-pet group's meeting. She was about to take her test to see if she had what it would take to become a therapy pet.
I'm delighted, pleased as punch I say, to report that she did indeed pass her test on the first try.
So while our day started off rather crummy, it ended on a high note. She had her fist visit to a nursing home this past Sunday and did very well.... if only I could get her to stop trying to crawl into bed with some of the residents. ;)
But being the love-bug that she is, she was a hit. I thought Olivia was popular, but Phoebe is really going to shine at this. My girls, while looking so similar, couldn't be more opposite if they tried. Olivia is reserved, somewhat aloof and often has to be coaxed in with treats, and even then she doesn't always get too close to too many people, and typically only enjoys being petted under her chin (in the throat area). Phoebe on the other hand, loves the attention. You don't have to bribe her with treats to come closer. She absolutely loves the attention and will stand there all day letting anyone pet her on any part of her body they so choose. She even allowed a couple of patients to wrap their arms around her neck and pull her in close for a hug, and gave more than a few puppy-kisses.
Whereas Olivia seems to bring a sense of calmness and peace with her presence (or so I've been told), she gets gentle smiles and comments on her beauty. But Phoebe gets large smiles and laughs when she comes into contact with you. And unlike Olivia, Phoebe even welcomes children to love on her. I just knew there was something special about her from the moment I laid eyes on her photo on the humane society's website so many months ago, and I was right!!
I'm hoping to have her take her Canine Good Citizens exam later this month, I hope she does as well on that.
It's been an incedibly warm winter, if not an overly soggy one. Our backyard seems to stay in a constant state of muddiness, and poor Phoebe gets hosed off with icy water on a regular basis. If I could just convince her to go potty on a leash, I'd take her out front where she wouldn't get muddy, but she just refuses. She'd rather hold it all day than to have to go anywhere other than her back yard. I guess she likes the "home field advantage". ;)

Update on life

It's been a while since I've blogged. I know, my blogs of late start out that way more and more often, but what can I say, life has gotten waaaay too busy for me to keep up anymore.
Olivia of course is busy with her nursing home visits several times a month. Phoebe now attends obedience school twice a week, but should be done with all that by early March and will try for her Canine Good Citizens title within the next couple of months. She'll also be taking her therapy-pet test next week, so keep your fingers crossed that she passes (only 6 months ahead of schedule!).
Our old man Eliott continues to decline. He still has a playful personality, but physically, he has a hard time gettind around. He stumbles a lot, has a hard time standing up, and has such an awkward gait when he walks. But his appetite remains good, and he can still be enticed to play, sometimes bouncing thru the house on his own in pursuit of a toy he wants. He does get cranky with Phoebe quite a bit, and on the occasions we try to help him stand up, he gets upset with us, I think it's a matter of pride. While I feel his days are numbered, it's not quite time yet. He may not have a great quality of life, but experience has taught me to recognize when our fur babies are telling us they are ready, and since he does still enjoy his meals, going outside and play time and cuddle time, how can we say "it's time"?

I've come to the conclusion that the UFC is in cahoots with the cable company(ies). They recently ended their long relationship with SpikeTV and have moved their broadcast to Fox and the Fuel channel. Fox would have been okay, but I gotta say that music they play annoys the crap out of me because it's the same stuff they play during football games. Please, come up with something different for mma!
I've long bragged and been proud of our low, low, cable bill. Under $15 for basic cable and no complaints about our connection or service. But oh, how things have changed in the past week.
Our package didn't include the Fuel channel, nor ESPNU which had a lot of the basketball/football games my husband wanted to watch. I stopped by the Insight office last Monday morning and asked the girl what we would have to do to get the Fuel channel. Upgrade to the Classic package and then to HD. Needless to say, that almost quadrupled our bill. But I sucked it up and agreed to it. I told her we worked during the week and would need a late-day appointment. The best she could offer was between 2-4pm on Wednesday. I crossed my fingers and hoped John would be home in time. Also, I insisted on a phone call before they tech arrived. Needless to say, Wednesday arrived and things started to go down hill from the get-go.
The tech called mid-morning to ask if he could come early as he'd finished his current job early. I said "no" but to call back after his next job, as maybe my husband would be home by then. He agreed, but do you think he called like he was supposed to? No, of course not. I arrived home around 5pm to a husband that was very unhappy. The guy had arrived unannounced, installed the equipment, didn't program the remote to our tv's signal as he didn't have time to fool with it and left us the old remote to the mini-box as it was already programmed or said we could do it ourselves. Nice, eh? But that isn't what pissed my husband off. The service wasn't working properly. It was as if someone was standing there turning the cable box off and on, off and on, off and on. I tried to call him down and see what I could accomplish. We were left no manual on how to operate the new remote or box, only a pamphlet that listed all the channels and a service number. I called service and after pushing a multitude of numbers, was told to try unplugging the unit and plugging it back in and that would probably fix things. I tried it and it didn't work. I called back. This time the option I got to sent a "reset" signal to our box and I was told it could take 10 minutes to several hours (seriously, that vague of a time frame!) for the thing to populate. Several hours? What does that mean? 3 hours? 10 hours? 3 days??? I called back later after it still wasn't working and this time spoke to a real human being. She asked if I'd unplugged it?, yes, had I had it reset? yes, and then unplug it? no. No, I wasn't told to do it then. So we tried this again, still nothing. She was perplexed but suggested we'd gotten a faulty box and set up an appointment for a technician to bring us a new one. It would be after 5pm on Friday. Needless to say, the husband was getting unhappier by the moment. I again told them to have the tech call before coming over. Do you think he did? No, of course not. I happened to get home shortly after 4:30 that afternoon and needless to say, the tech was already there. New box installed, the cable now seemed to be working. But wait! We weren't getting the Fuel channel. I was informed by the tech that he had no control of what channels we got, he just installed equipment. I did my best (unsuccessfully) to hide my annoyance over the whole situation, and he immediately got on his cell phone and called the home office. Within a couple of minutes we had the Fuel channel. **smiles** The tech left, John left for a meeting he had, and I sat down to watch mma stuff. Less than 3 hours after the tech left, the cable went out. I tried everything, but nothing worked. I gave up and went to bed, then started again at 9am on Saturday. The person I reached was useless, unable to help. She wanted to send a tech out right then, but I explained that I had a class to be at by 10am, and that I couldn't guarantee anyone would be there 'til at least 4pm as my husband worked and I had volunteer work that afternoon. She couldn't guarantee someone would come that late, but noted it on the work-order. Shortly after 11, the tech called (now he calls???) and said he was on his way. I was livid! I told him there was nobody there and that I thought I'd made it clear there wouldn't be until 4pm. I was informed I'd have to call back on Monday and reschedule the appointment as he couldn't hold his schedule open to accomodate me.
This is their idea of customer service?????????????
So we now have another appointment for after 5pm on Tuesday. That's 7 days we've had to go without reception on our main tv. The little tv in the bedroom that is still hooked to a mini-box works great. It's the big, hd boxes that suck!! I'll be damned if I'm paying for those 5 days of service, and if they don't get if fixed this time, they can come get all of their equipment as we'll be switching to satellite. Insight sucks!!!!!