Worried Parents

The ER vet last night indicated that the leg would look much better this morning. We didn't think it did, so returned to the Emergency Animal Clinic. Plus the drainage from the incision had increased and had blood in it. A true emergency came in a few minutes after we arrived. The technician, who had seen us last night also, checked his leg and didn't think it looked that bad. We waited more than an hour for the vet, then went home, as it was time for his next anti-biotic pill which he certainly needed.

Pet Poisons

I arrived home from NC two weeks ago yesterday. Two weeks ago today, my computer case zippers were open as I was slowly getting things back to normal. Secret: I eat at least one square of dark chocolate per day. Shhhhh.... It's good for me; right?! Half of a bar of 72% cocoa content Heart Healthy chocolate from our local chcolatier was in my case. Three guesses what happened, and the first two don't count. This IS a blog about Guinness!

It was Sunday morning. I called the Emergency Animal Clinic. They insisted that he needed to come in to have vomiting induced. cha-ching, cha-ching. So I tried to call my vet nephew. He was in church. I called my neighbor with a lab. She said to give him some rice to dilute the chocolate, plus they did some online research. We decided that he had not had enough to be an issue unless I noted a change in his demeanor. Vet nephew called later from a noisy restaurant, and concurred that he probably had not had enough. And he was .... just fine! :)

Today, my son sent this site. A good one to bookmark!!! It says to not go to the emergency vet unless the dog is losing consciousness or having seizures. Good information! I knew most of this already, but no grapes?! I am sure I have given him a grape or two. uh-oh.

http://green.yahoo.com/blog/guest_bloggers/43/foods-poisonous-to-pets.html

Do Dogs Cause Marital Strife?

They certainly can! My mother had a little poodle when she met my Dad. Teddy did NOT like Daddy. Mom tells me that there was some definite tension in the beginning. My Dad LOVED dogs, but Teddy did NOT love my Dad.

Here are my parents on their wedding day, July 25, 1933, with their minister (the inventor of the gumball machine!) and Teddy keeping guard.


Texas Cooper here...

Today, a friend (Sarah -- who readopted Aria after Karin's death) posted an hysterical tale about her dog Cooper which proposed a wedge in her and Chris's blossoming relationship. Check it out -- http://twoinayear.blogspot.com/search?q=cooper.

On the Guinny Trail

This morning, I asked a fellow doggie park friend to take Guinny's and my photo on the bike path leading to the ballfield where we play with our best friends every morning.

Unfortunately, my stylish polka dot boots are not obvious. My unstylish waistbag is front and center, but important! It carries poop bags, treats, camera, and Blackberry.

Post Birth; Pre Death

We walked past several robin egg shells this morning. Guinness took no note, but I did! :)

I know you don't care... ha! but Kevin will! :)

Guinness continues to exhibit his new level of maturity. A 14 year old shepherd was at our park this morning. Guinness eagerly ran to him hoping for a playmate, then realized as soon as he was close that this was a dog to respect for his senior status. But the owner was healthy, so he politely requested attention from him. "Politely" is the key word in that sentence!

The Killer

Today was our date for a heartworm test. As you know, Guinness LOVES going to the vet's office. LOVES! This experience would be a good test of any potential 5 year old behavioral changes. When we turned on the street where the office is, he knew where we were going and was dancing. He couldn't wait to get out of the car. He pulled me across the lawn and through the front door as I declared, "Here we are!" There were three owners and three dogs waiting. He wanted/tried to meet them all as I attempted to restrain him. He nearly leapt over the counter to see "his girls." The barking stopped after a few minutes (sign 1), but the energy level remained off the wall. One of the newer assistants thought a treat might calm him down. He appreciated the treat, but that is not a calming activity.

They now have a scale in the waiting room. Two assistants who know Guinness appeared and wanted to weigh him. I guess, they have forgotten! No one can weigh him but me, and usually it has to be in private for him to settle long enough to register a weight. However, today, he sat still on the scale for me with others present (sign 2)! 77.8 pounds.

As our wait lengthened, Guinness relaxed a bit. First he sat (sign 3).

And eventually he even lay down (sign 4)!

When it was finally our turn to go into an exam room, the waiting room erupted in laughter at his eagerness. Again it was a long wait, and again he lay down (sign 5)! When the vet finally appeared, he greeted Guinness with, "It's Killer Guinness!" When I mentioned that I think Guinness's behavior is improving, he said, "He is a 35 year old male! He won't slow down until he retires." He devoured the vet's attention, had his first treatment of Revolution, and we were on our way. Well, we had to pay first, and, since new dogs were now in the waiting room, he was bonkers again, knocking my purse off the edge of the counter, spilling the contents on the desk of the office staff.

As we approached the door, an elderly woman and tiny Yorkie were approaching on the other side. As she started to open the door, I suggested that I hold the door for her while they walked inside, then we exited. I could see a potential disaster with him racing for her dog, knocking her off balance at the top of stairs as she tried to hold a heavy door. As it was, her Yorkie effectively told Guinness off for being Guinness, and the lady slapped the little dog's face for being impolite. Oh, my.... :\ They entered, and we exited.

I would pronounce: definite improvement! Age is not all bad!

We Finally Learned the Truth

... about Guinness's tongue gash at his pet hotel last August. The original story can be seen at http://dogsofourlives.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-else-can-happen.html.

What really happened is -- they were walking Guinness past the food cart, a two shelved cart with food for the dogs on the top shelf and trash on the lower shelf. As Guinness approached the cart, he smelled goodies on the lower shelf and tried to lick an opened and empty can, gashing his tongue. This is similar to what we expected had happened. You mean that other dogs can walk past a food cart without lurching to glean some treats?

Anyone familiar with labs would expect one to reach for either the trash or the food on top. Someone was not thinking that morning...

Will I See My Dog in Heaven?

How can heaven be heaven if my dog is not there?! I have gathered opinions of theologians and some others on this issue, plus I have written out my thoughts on the topic. I was pleased to find this book at Calvin College during The Festival of Faith and Writing. I set it on the stairs to place beside my bed for reading sometime soon. After I read this, perhaps I will post my ideas on this topic which, I hope, will be bolstered by this book.

I found Guinness running around the house with my book in his mouth!!! You can see some scratches on the cover, but everything is in tact. He rarely ruins anything anymore, but he might leave teeth marks.


Now I wonder... maybe Guinness will not go to heaven after all... if he is going to steal my books!!!!

Signs that Guinness is Maturing!

Today I began to see some indications that Guinness is actually growing up!!!

First, we had window washers come today. I tied Guinness to the tree in the side yard so that he could watch them and perhaps receive some pets. Normally, as soon as they enter the yard, he begins barking and jumping hoping for some attention. Not today. Silence. He watched them work but did not interrupt them or beg for attention. Shocking!

Also today, my computer guru came to fix the sync problem between my Outlook and Blackberry. Normally, I have to close Guinness into a room so that he will leave the guest in our house alone. Amazingly, he did NOT jump on Shawn. He lay down at Shawn's feet and behaved like a "normal" dog!!!

In recent days, I do not hold on to the leash when we are in our side yard. So far, he has not tried to run away!

I am seeing definite progress in development! Finally!

5 Year Old Antics

He may be 5 years, yet he thinks he is 5 months. Still a pesky character! Today, I noted that one crocheted placemat was missing from the kitchen table. I went upstairs to see if it was there with a naughty dog. Not only was he on our bed with the placemat, but he also had one of my Crocs. None of this is unusual. It is all par for the course with Guinness.


He still is not looking very happy. :\ His age must be weighing on him...

5 Year Old Photos

I wanted to take some photos of my 5 year old, but I was not too happy with these when I saw them on screen. He doesn't look like a happy dog! ?? He looks worn out or something. Maybe he is feeling his age?

Guinness Turned 5!

April 21 is his birthday.

Here is what he looked like at 5 days old, April 26, 2005, with his canine and his human moms:



We had NO idea what we were in for!!! LOL

I didn't have time to go to doggie park on his birthday, but we went today and took treats for all the canines. He had 5 dogs at his party -- the appropriate amount -- one per year of the birthday boy.

Seamus and Sidney on the left. Crash, the chocolate, playing with Holly, and Guinness wandering off to the right.

After playtime, he went with me 30 min. from home for my hair appointment. He is so smart! I was daydreaming and missed a turn off a major boulevard. He knew I missed the turn, even though we still had 3 more turns to make before our destination!!! He went crazy that I goofed. Oh, my... Last time, I had allowed him to play at a doggie park on the way home. He remembered and started reminding me as soon as we were on the road where the park is. Smart boy! I knew exactly what he was saying. So he had more frolicking fun with more dogs. A couple came in with their miniature dog, Tim Horton's coffees, and sandwiches. They sat at a picnic table within the doggie park, and Guinness jumped right up on the table. He knows Tim Horton's and he wanted some!!! They had to stand outside the fence with their human treats to have some peace. Silly people! What were they thinking? LOL

Coyote sighting

I took Guinness out for a final run and saw a coyote in the driveway behind our place about 50 ft. ahead in the rainy dark. He stared at us and Guinness looked attentively at him, then he walked into the grass and we went inside! I made Grant take him out again later.

All this winter we have had a friendly rabbit in our yard. When I take Guinness out in the early morning and in the evening, invariably the bunny is there. He does not seem afraid of us. He will let us walk up to within 5 feet of him, and as along as Guinness stays still, he will continue nibbling on whatever. But Guinness does not stay still. He eventually bolts and the bunny runs a few feet. I have wondered if I tied Guinness to a tree, could I get closer to the bunny and make friends? For the past month, there has been no bunny in our yard. I fear the worst.

One morning recently, a pile of chickadee feathers was in our lawn. No sign of a carcass. I have wondered who did it -- a hawk or coyote? BTW, a little chickadee has an enormous amount of feathers!!!! No wonder they stay warm through the winter!

I did a search for what coyotes eat: "A coyote is mainly a meat eater, so he hunts rabbits, mice and small animals like that. A coyote is carnivorous (flesh eating). Typically they feed on small game, fruits, insects, rodents, rabbits, small birds, poultry." There are my answers? Yet, would a coyote pick all the feathers out? A hawk might do that. ??

Urban Wildlife

Sometimes I feel like we live in the country due to all the wildlife we see! Of course, there is a conservation area right behind our development, yet the natural area and our home border a six-lane highway.

This morning while taking Guinness for his morning walk, we were beside the fence at the back. A small river is at the bottom of the ravine. There were three animals swimming down there! They had very long tails, but were too large to be rats. Two disappeared under the water and the third swam away and vanished under a log. After considering the options, they were muskrats looking exactly like this one:

Pizza Night

We baked a frozen pizza for our dinner tonight and only ate half of it. After dinner, I was exhausted. I cleaned up the kitchen, but my tired brain forgot to put the leftover pizza away. A few minutes later, I heard the crinkling of a tinfoil pan and knew what it was. That's right -- "was." The boy enjoyed a fair share of pizza and was happily playing with the noisy pan.

Tigger

I arrived home from my trip to NC this morning, dropped my suitcases, and went to the pet hotel to pick up Guinny. He was bouncy and smashed into my mouth causing my teeth to cut my lip. He thinks he cannot jump into my new SUV, because we got it when he was still recovering from surgery and needed a ramp to get in. Today, he bounced right in.

We stopped at our doggie park for him to burn up some pent-up energy before going home. He gets two 15 minute leash walks and two playtimes per day at the pet hotel which isn't enough to even begin to slow him down. He needed to stretch his legs! Hopping through the snow gave him an outlet.

Coyote!

I drive to doggie park on days the walks are icy, such as today. As we arrived at the parking lot for the ballfields, an unleased dog wandered into the road. Then I noted that it was mangy looking -- a coyote! He walked straight towards my car, then across the street. All the time, Guinness was going bonkers wanting to meet a new friend. I sat there perplexed for a minute -- should I or should I not park and get out of the car. I decided to go to the drugstore first, then returned. No person, dog, or coyote was in sight. We took the chance. I walked / Guinness ran around the field three times, but we did not go behind the spruce trees. Three times when there was a large distance between us, I called him to come, and he came! What a good boy!

This afternoon, I researched the Web for ways to ward off being attacked by a coyote. Use a gun, a stick, or make a lot of noise with large gestures and be tough were the preferred methods. If needed, I will try the noise, gestures, and vicious attitude, but I pray I never need to experiment!

This fella is much prettier and more robust than our neighborhood cur.

The Peacemaker

Guinness loves everyone, even if they don't love him. Once in a while, we encounter a malicious dog. With such a dog, Guinness might bare his teeth and bark back. But the norm is that he remains quiet, subdued, and backs away if the other dog's body language indicates he does not want to be friendly. With that attitude after meeting the hostile dog a few times, the oppugner begins to soften his demeanor towards Guinness until they are friends. This has happened in recent months with Shamus, a Wheaten Terrier (Terror? ha!), and a 15 year old yellow lab, Ben.

Guinness and Shamus

Dangers in the Park

Yesterday, Guinness found a couple of piles of birdseed shells/husks under spruce trees at doggie park. Apparently, some idiot cleaned out their birdfeeders in the park. It was futile to keep him away from the phony treat while off leash, so I reasoned: it will not hurt him; it will all come out in the end.

Late yesterday, he seemed to be gagging, so we ran outside. Nothing happened. In the middle of the night, he was barking in the den. We relented, allowing him to sleep with us so that we could sleep -- never considering that he might be in distress. This morning before daylight, Grant said he pooped everywhere, sometimes diarrhea, and to watch where I step when I go out. Then I remembered the birdseed shells. Oops! We went out again a couple of hours later, and he pooped quite a bit more! I saw that it wasn't diarrhea, but just all those shells coming out as small pieces.

I didn't want to take him to doggie park to eat more, yet how could I ever take him back if it wasn't cleaned up. So I decided to take the pooper scooper, a bucket and garbage bag, a sign asking the culprit to please not do this again, hammer, and nails. I tied him to the baseball field fence and went to work. I found four piles of the stuff and filled my 2-3 gallon bucket. After I hung a sign on the one deciduous tree that had a pile of the stuff under it, now cleaned up, I took a photo. ha!

Fun Day at the Park

Now that freezing temps and snow are here, no one is regular at doggie park. Whatever time of morning I go, I usually find some friends there. Today it was Crash (the other chocolate), two Wheaten Terriers, and Guinness (with the green collar). Guinness did his own thing for the most part this morning which included stealing my mittens numerous times. He also met the Wheaten Terriers' "mother" for the first time, and did NOT make a good first impression. He was determined to pull her gloves off and, since he smelled treats in her pocket, kept jumping on her. Meanwhile, the other three dogs played and played -- mainly erotic games. LOL They were soooo funny!!!! Usually one was at Crash's head and the other at his tail, but Crash loved it!


Friday, Shayla, a Golden, was there. When we arrived, she was racing around the field with a large, dead crow in her mouth . Her mother was desperately trying to catch her and remove the frozen bird, but Shayla was not to be caught. We two other dog mommies there tried to help. When Shayla was nabbed, only for a few brief moments before escaping, she had NO intention of giving up her prize. Once, while her mom held her, I managed to break a large part of the carcass, with entrails exposed, out of her mouth, then the mom was able to remove the rest. What a gross experience!