Friday, December 30, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Vinnie update
Thank you for all your thought and prayers. Vinnie is now home and doing better. They found that Vinnie does not have cancer, but enlarged lyphnodes because of Diabetes. (Sad but still a Big sigh of relief that it's not cancer!) Although, he's still not feeling 100% himself, he is definitely on his way there. He will be on a strict diet, insulin shots twice daily, and lots of walks- short ones because of his stiff joints, but walks nonetheless.
The things we do for these dogs... we love them a lot.
We are so glad he is doing alright and he sends everyone lots of tail wags. We will be over to visit him this weekend and will give him lots and lots of hugs!
In other news, Placer is now legal and got to go to work today for the first time. Lucky guy.
He was perfect and will be visiting the office as frequently throughout the next year. :)
The things we do for these dogs... we love them a lot.
We are so glad he is doing alright and he sends everyone lots of tail wags. We will be over to visit him this weekend and will give him lots and lots of hugs!
In other news, Placer is now legal and got to go to work today for the first time. Lucky guy.
He was perfect and will be visiting the office as frequently throughout the next year. :)
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
This past weekend Vinnie, my 11 1/2 year old career change dog (and first GDB puppy) that lives with my parents, hasn't been feeling well. He's getting slower in his age and has a few fatty tumors that have been removed and grown back, but other than that he's been the same since he was 2.
We called the vet on Monday, and luckily someone was there and told us it sounded like a UTI and he would be fine until Tuesday. My mom took him in this morning and after a few tests, they found his blood sugar level over 500 (normal for a dog is about what's normal for a human between 75 and 120). The vet decided to keep him overnight to give him the glucose shots and for observation. The vet thinks he has developed Diabetes... They are also testing him for Lymphoma. I pray he is alright and gets to go home tomorrow. He's a huge part of all of our lives and it's sad having him away even for a night-- and I don't even live there.
Since we're in the process of getting a house, I've been thinking about how I really want a pet dog soon that is just *ours*, but going through this today makes me think... why would I want to do that to myself?
It's tough watching your dog get old.
It's sad seeing them get slower.
I don't know that I can do it again after watching my Vinnie go through it...
Please keep Vinnie in your thoughts and prayers.
We called the vet on Monday, and luckily someone was there and told us it sounded like a UTI and he would be fine until Tuesday. My mom took him in this morning and after a few tests, they found his blood sugar level over 500 (normal for a dog is about what's normal for a human between 75 and 120). The vet decided to keep him overnight to give him the glucose shots and for observation. The vet thinks he has developed Diabetes... They are also testing him for Lymphoma. I pray he is alright and gets to go home tomorrow. He's a huge part of all of our lives and it's sad having him away even for a night-- and I don't even live there.
Since we're in the process of getting a house, I've been thinking about how I really want a pet dog soon that is just *ours*, but going through this today makes me think... why would I want to do that to myself?
It's tough watching your dog get old.
It's sad seeing them get slower.
I don't know that I can do it again after watching my Vinnie go through it...
Please keep Vinnie in your thoughts and prayers.
Sometimes...
Sometimes I really miss Phoenix...
Then I get to cuddle with this guy and it makes it better.
Oh Placer... I'm really glad you're so darn cute and extra sweet?
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
My dog is a pig
One of the funny, quirky things about Placer is the sounds that he makes.
Mostly in the morning when he gets out of his crate, he will lean up against me and start making this deep low noise...
at first we though it was a growl-y "Good morning"...
Then we though it was a little purr... (he does live with 2 cats at his other house)
This week we realized it sounds just like an OINK.
My dog thinks he is a pig.
From this discovery he has earned several new nicknames- "Piggy" and "Wilbur" among them.
I tried to get it on video, but it doesn't quite work out... I'll work on it though.
It's hard to capture the true Placer in a video- or even in a picture. Such a sweet guy, with a lot of fun personality. He's just starting to get out more and does really well. He went to church for the first time last week and did GREAT- especially considering we teach the 9-year-olds. He went right in and fell asleep. What a good puppy...
Mostly in the morning when he gets out of his crate, he will lean up against me and start making this deep low noise...
at first we though it was a growl-y "Good morning"...
Then we though it was a little purr... (he does live with 2 cats at his other house)
This week we realized it sounds just like an OINK.
My dog thinks he is a pig.
From this discovery he has earned several new nicknames- "Piggy" and "Wilbur" among them.
I tried to get it on video, but it doesn't quite work out... I'll work on it though.
It's hard to capture the true Placer in a video- or even in a picture. Such a sweet guy, with a lot of fun personality. He's just starting to get out more and does really well. He went to church for the first time last week and did GREAT- especially considering we teach the 9-year-olds. He went right in and fell asleep. What a good puppy...
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Road Trip
I heard last night that Phoenix made it safely to San Rafael yesterday with 2 other Breeder Eval dogs. It's not much, but every bit of information is ridiculously exciting for me.
Leaving you with a little bit of a ghetto picture of cute Placer.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Retired
I got another email today about one of my other puppies...
Sweet Judith.
Judith was my 2nd puppy I raised and she was the one in restored my faith in the fact that I could DO IT. Vinnie was one tough puppy- he was my first puppy and he was an intact male and no he's a marshmallow I know. But Judith saved me from having to convince my family to do it again. She was the one that made me fall in love with Female Black Labs... after her I raised 4 more FBL's (until I fell in love with the Males... I would LOVE a Male Black Lab- best of both worlds)
We all fell in love with Judith and were so happy when she graduated with the most amazing woman from Oregon.
Over the last 8 1/2 years we've kept in contact every few months. She will tell me how little Judi is doing and I tell her now my newest Guide Dog puppy is.
Today I got an email that said Judith is ready to retire. She will be working until a new dog is ready to take over the duties, then she'll enjoy the life of luxury in her retirement.
We've always said we would take Judith back in a heartbeat if we could, but over the years we've gotten the chance to see her a few times and I know she's in the right place and there's no where else she would rather be, than with the person that has taken such good care of her for the past 8 1/2 years and I know she will take great care of her in her retirement. I just think- am I really this old that I have a dog retiring? Have I really done it this long? Apparently so.
Happy Retirement, Judith!
Sweet Judith.
Judith was my 2nd puppy I raised and she was the one in restored my faith in the fact that I could DO IT. Vinnie was one tough puppy- he was my first puppy and he was an intact male and no he's a marshmallow I know. But Judith saved me from having to convince my family to do it again. She was the one that made me fall in love with Female Black Labs... after her I raised 4 more FBL's (until I fell in love with the Males... I would LOVE a Male Black Lab- best of both worlds)
We all fell in love with Judith and were so happy when she graduated with the most amazing woman from Oregon.
Over the last 8 1/2 years we've kept in contact every few months. She will tell me how little Judi is doing and I tell her now my newest Guide Dog puppy is.
Today I got an email that said Judith is ready to retire. She will be working until a new dog is ready to take over the duties, then she'll enjoy the life of luxury in her retirement.
We've always said we would take Judith back in a heartbeat if we could, but over the years we've gotten the chance to see her a few times and I know she's in the right place and there's no where else she would rather be, than with the person that has taken such good care of her for the past 8 1/2 years and I know she will take great care of her in her retirement. I just think- am I really this old that I have a dog retiring? Have I really done it this long? Apparently so.
Happy Retirement, Judith!
Sunday, December 4, 2011
One Quiet Weekend
It's kind of weird not having puppy for the weekend. But it's good. We get to sleep past 6 a.m. ;)
A lot of people ask how co-raising works for me and the answer is:
FANTASTIC!
We love it. My co-raiser is Marnie... and family. Her house includes a husband- Willie- who is equally involved and takes the puppies to work when they are old enough, 4 girls, 2 cats, and a working Guide Dog.
In the beginning I usually will take the puppy more because it's harder for Marnie and Willie to tell if puppy has an accident unless their girls are home. So they get puppy on the weekend (Friday-Monday) and I get him during the week. As puppy gets older, we start to trade every other week- switching on Sundays. We live pretty close to each other so it's not hard to trade.
We both have our strengths and fit together really well.
Marnie is really good at working on "Come" because that is really important for her to have a dog with a good recall that touches her so she knows he is there.
I'm in charge of teaching "Go to Bed" since Marnie can't see to treat him at the right time.
It's fun to show each other what puppy has learned in the days that we have him- and it's fun to see how much puppy has grown since we last saw him.
Also we both have such different home lives that puppy gets used to lots of different things.
Marnie lives in a house- we live in an apartment (not for long though! We're getting ready to close on a house soon! Yay!),
Marnie has lots of kids and dogs- We don't,
Marnie works in Voc Rehab and Willie owns a Cafe- I work at the University,
Marnie and Willie take the bus or a cab everywhere- We drive a small Toyota and a Suzuki with a hatchback.
Pretty much co-raising is great and if you ever get the chance to co-raise with someone great- I recommend it.
A lot of people ask how co-raising works for me and the answer is:
FANTASTIC!
We love it. My co-raiser is Marnie... and family. Her house includes a husband- Willie- who is equally involved and takes the puppies to work when they are old enough, 4 girls, 2 cats, and a working Guide Dog.
In the beginning I usually will take the puppy more because it's harder for Marnie and Willie to tell if puppy has an accident unless their girls are home. So they get puppy on the weekend (Friday-Monday) and I get him during the week. As puppy gets older, we start to trade every other week- switching on Sundays. We live pretty close to each other so it's not hard to trade.
We both have our strengths and fit together really well.
Marnie is really good at working on "Come" because that is really important for her to have a dog with a good recall that touches her so she knows he is there.
I'm in charge of teaching "Go to Bed" since Marnie can't see to treat him at the right time.
It's fun to show each other what puppy has learned in the days that we have him- and it's fun to see how much puppy has grown since we last saw him.
Also we both have such different home lives that puppy gets used to lots of different things.
Marnie lives in a house- we live in an apartment (not for long though! We're getting ready to close on a house soon! Yay!),
Marnie has lots of kids and dogs- We don't,
Marnie works in Voc Rehab and Willie owns a Cafe- I work at the University,
Marnie and Willie take the bus or a cab everywhere- We drive a small Toyota and a Suzuki with a hatchback.
Pretty much co-raising is great and if you ever get the chance to co-raise with someone great- I recommend it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)