Much of the K klan is on the mends. Otis recovered quite nicely and was his usual food motivated self today; much to mine and Mr. K's relief. I'm not too bad, but Mr. K seems to have been hit the hardest. He's currently upstairs napping off his creeping crud. Thankfully, none of the other dogs, thus far, haven't caught what Otis had and let's hope they don't. This means, of course, that Her Royal Highness Princess Hermione Sophia is as full of piss and vinegar as ever. Even more so when she pranced out into the backyard to discover that the grass was mostly hidden by some fluffy white stuff.
That's right-it has snowed in the Land of Ice and Snow. It had snowed yesterday morning too, but it didn't really last and Hermione Sophia didn't get to experience the joys of freshly fallen snow. However, the snow stayed much longer this morning and she couldn't stop asking to go out.
When we initially went out, she trotted out on to the steps and stopped and looked around. She then noticed that the stuff was falling from the sky and she began rushing about, attempting to eat the stuff on the ground while trying to catch the stuff coming from the sky. All of the other dogs were excited too. Otis made it his mission to eat his way through the snow and Roscoe and Nala started racing zoomies around our small yard. Long after everyone had run themselves, ore eaten themselves, silly, Hermione was still leaping into the air and digging.
I knew she'd like the snow, but she liked it even more than I thought. I thought her precious paws would be offended by the cold and wet, but none of that seemed to phase her. She ran zoomies, dug holes, rolled her face and played "snowflake murder," the way she does with leaves. She stayed out long after everyone else had come in and when she finally did decide to come in the house, it was only long enough to melt her snowy paws all over the house and go back out to accumulate more snowballs. There were only probably a few inches on the ground so I can't wait to see what she does when we actually get dumped on and get a few feet.
Somehow, I think she'll still be out there, catching snowflakes and digging holes; our little Snow Princess.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
We Need a Nurse
It sucks when three out of eight family members are not well. I'm feeling like I've got the creeping crud coming on and Mr. K is suffering with full blown creeping crud. The poor guy has a heavy work load this term with two statistics courses plus two fourth year Psychology courses. Mom was nice enough to stop by and drop off some cold medicine and a few cans of chicken noodle soup. Since I slept all morning, I don't feel bad after eating some soup and guzzling almost an entire Britta pitcher full of water. Mr. K on the other hand, is still under the weather despite me drugging him. Not only are we both humans feeling a bit off, but our poor little French Pig is under the weather. He gave us quite the scare this morning.
Around 7 this morning, I was awakened by Otis constantly crawling around the bed. I thought that maybe he needed out really badly so I scooped him up and rushed downstairs and out into the backyard. He went quickly, but his legs were quivering and his breathing was quite labored; a concern for any dog, but even more so for a short nosed breed like the French Bulldog. I brought him back inside, thinking that he was shivering because it was cold out. We actually had snow fall today. However, the shaking didn't stop. As I was running everyone else out, he vomited. Mr. K cleaned it up only to have him puke again. I gave him a bit of water and he drank which made me less worried, but my concerns weren't waylaid. We put him back in bed where he continued to shiver, but it decreased slightly. His breathing still wasn't quite right either. Finally, I got out of bed and took him down into the living room, where I set up on the couch with blankets and a pillow. All I wanted to do was sleep because I felt awful, but I was too worried about the little guy. As I was running back upstairs to grab a pillow, he vomited again, but it was just bile. It appeared that the water he drank had absorbed somewhat. After cleaning that up, we curled up on the couch and Mr. K and I watched a few TV shows, waiting to see how Otis was doing. Slowly but surely, the shivering stopped and his breathing became less labored. It was not back to normal, but he was finally able to fall asleep. Eventually, I fell asleep on the couch, covered by dogs and a cat and Mr. K got some needed sleep upstairs.
Wen I finally woke up about four hours later, I ran everyone outside and Otis did his business; a good sign. I fed everyone, but didn't give him any food just in case it was an intestinal bug. Dogs can shiver when they are feeling nauseous and so we were hoping that was what was going on. I tried to give him a bit of water, but he wasn't interested. So, I scooped some of the chicken broth out of the soup I had eaten earlier and put it into a bowl for him. It wasn't much, but just enough to get some fluids into him and some nourishment. He wasn't sure at first, but eventually he drank it all. He's been shivers free for a few hours now and his breathing is back to normal, so we think it was a flu bug of some sort. You can tell he's tired, but I'll take that over the other stuff. He's now curled up on top of Roscoe snoring away and I think that's where we'll leave him until he wakes himself up.
Around 7 this morning, I was awakened by Otis constantly crawling around the bed. I thought that maybe he needed out really badly so I scooped him up and rushed downstairs and out into the backyard. He went quickly, but his legs were quivering and his breathing was quite labored; a concern for any dog, but even more so for a short nosed breed like the French Bulldog. I brought him back inside, thinking that he was shivering because it was cold out. We actually had snow fall today. However, the shaking didn't stop. As I was running everyone else out, he vomited. Mr. K cleaned it up only to have him puke again. I gave him a bit of water and he drank which made me less worried, but my concerns weren't waylaid. We put him back in bed where he continued to shiver, but it decreased slightly. His breathing still wasn't quite right either. Finally, I got out of bed and took him down into the living room, where I set up on the couch with blankets and a pillow. All I wanted to do was sleep because I felt awful, but I was too worried about the little guy. As I was running back upstairs to grab a pillow, he vomited again, but it was just bile. It appeared that the water he drank had absorbed somewhat. After cleaning that up, we curled up on the couch and Mr. K and I watched a few TV shows, waiting to see how Otis was doing. Slowly but surely, the shivering stopped and his breathing became less labored. It was not back to normal, but he was finally able to fall asleep. Eventually, I fell asleep on the couch, covered by dogs and a cat and Mr. K got some needed sleep upstairs.
Wen I finally woke up about four hours later, I ran everyone outside and Otis did his business; a good sign. I fed everyone, but didn't give him any food just in case it was an intestinal bug. Dogs can shiver when they are feeling nauseous and so we were hoping that was what was going on. I tried to give him a bit of water, but he wasn't interested. So, I scooped some of the chicken broth out of the soup I had eaten earlier and put it into a bowl for him. It wasn't much, but just enough to get some fluids into him and some nourishment. He wasn't sure at first, but eventually he drank it all. He's been shivers free for a few hours now and his breathing is back to normal, so we think it was a flu bug of some sort. You can tell he's tired, but I'll take that over the other stuff. He's now curled up on top of Roscoe snoring away and I think that's where we'll leave him until he wakes himself up.
Born Freeeeeeeeeeeeee!
I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but my grandparents on my dad's side own 25 acres of property about a 45 minute drive outside of the city limits. I haven't been able to get out to see them, but we finally made it out there yesterday. Roscoe's been out there before, but none of my other crazy fuzzies. Saying they loved it would not even come close to the enjoyment they had splashing in mud puddles, eating grass and chasing leaves/sticks/anything that moved.
We went out just after lunch, Mom and Dad picking me and all four dogs up. Mr. K couldn't come because he is still working through school and he had an exam yesterday. When we arrived at the driveway, we unloaded everyone so Mom and I could walk up. The driveway is about a kilometre long and is just wide enough for one vehicle. As we pulled in, one of my grandpa's friends was leaving and we had to reverse back out to the road. Roscoe was none too happy when the SUV started backing up. He squawked his displeasure. I'm assuming he thought we were going home. The other dogs didn't know what was at the end of the road, so were more confused as to why we were going backwards instead of forward.
Once the other truck had passed us, Dad pulled back in and Mom and I got all animals out of the vehicle. There were five in total: Miss Jetta accompanied all of us too. All beasts were asked to sit and once Dad was far enough away, we let them go. Every single one of them took off like a shot, even our resident senior citizen, Jetta. Otis had to stay on leash because there are so many watery holes of doom that he could drown in. We tied an extra leash on to his though and he had a bit more lee way. We even ran with him at different spots, just to let him run with everyone else.
By the time we arrived at the top of the driveway, every dog was covered in mud and water. Hermione was not only muddy, but she had a couple of cling-ons in the form of sticks and dried leaves. I picked stuff out of her fur as best I could, but there was no point in grooming her perfectly since we were going to be there for the afternoon. My two cousins were splitting and piling wood for Grandpa since he heats his house with a wood stove during the winter. Grandpa was nowhere to be found upon our arrival, but soon appeared, driving my parents 4-wheeler out to one of his sheds. It's actually a little make shift cottage that the original owners of the property lived in when building the main house. We call it the Grettle house. I'm not entirely sure why, but the name has stuck.
My very first dog, Sasha, is buried by the Grettle house and Roscoe went to visit him. I don't know if the dogs knew he was there, but they all took turns going to his grave site and sniffing. It totally could have been a fluke, but it was interesting.
After each dog met Grandpa, Mom and I continued walking around, trying to let Otis have plenty of exercise too. Nala found the clay pit which was full of water, muddy gross water I might add, and began running back and forth in it. Roscoe followed her in and to my absolute shock and horror Hermione tried a paw or two in the sticky glop. Thankfully, Otis couldn't reach it because I am sure his little French Piggie ways would have kicked in and he would have eaten himself sick. My grandparents had a big it dug a few years after they bought the property. They used the water to water flowers and hauled it to the sauna. Sasha used it as a swimming pool. I told mom to go over to the "swimming hole" as we dubbed it, to see if Nala would go in. For once, I was relieved to hear the splashing of paws as she skidded in and began swimming around. Roscoe thought about it, but when he realised that it was over his head, he backed off. Nala emerged with a yellow body/legs and a still very black face and head. I wasn't sure how we were going to get that off, but we would have to some way.
We continued our circuit around and ended up in the garage where Grandpa was making his own drill bits. I have no idea why or how, but that is what he was doing. "The boys," (AKA my cousins, we've always called them that), were coming up the rest of the driveway with the truck full of wood to unload. Dad was driving along ahead on a kid's motorcycle with his legs sticking straight out in front of him; yelling of course. I nearly keeled over laughing. He had it going as fast as it could go and I probably could have outrun it. He had to have his legs up because he was much too tall for the little bike. The motorcycle was parked, wood unloaded and we all stood around chatting, Hermione chasing leaves and Roscoe and Nala off frolicking somewhere.
Wait.
Off frolicking where?
I pulled out my whistle and blew. Two big dogs came thundering into the garage and Nala sat perfectly in front of me. Hermione came too even though we knew where she was. As I started digging recall treats out of my pocket, something caught my attention. I breathed deeply and leaned closer to Nala. Sure enough, she smelled.
However, instead of stinking of fox or goose poop (which is a Nala special) she smelled like mint.
"Grandpa!" I exclaimed. "Do you have wild mint growing?"
He said that he did and we went off in search of the fragrant patch Nala had found. Sure enough, we found a huge area where the mint was growing wild. Not only did Nala smell better, but her face wasn't black anymore. I've decided we should plant mint at dog parks.
When we returned to the garage, I tied Otis to the leg of my chair so I didn't have to hold on to him. My cousins came back from the wood pile and Otis was so stinking excited to see them that he pulled the leg of the chair right off. One minute I'm sitting comfortably, the next there's a loud crack and I'm teetering on three legs. We switched me to a chair with metal legs and tied Otis to that. No more broken chairs.
We spent the rest of the afternoon just talking, cutting Grandpa and Dad's hair. Grandpa even peeled and cut up apples for the dogs which he gave to them. Eventually the sun went away and the boys had to head home. Grandpa was getting ready to head out to his deer stand anyway, so we packed five very tired dogs into the SUV and drove home. There was not one squawk from any of them on the drive home.
Next Saturday we're going back out for a sauna and a late lunch. Grandpa's cooking, so I'm looking forward to that. It was so nice to be home, surrounded by family, my crazy dogs and a whole lot of nature. We even got to see a deer from a distance. I can't wait to do it all again on saturday. Well, perhaps minus the broken chair leg.
We went out just after lunch, Mom and Dad picking me and all four dogs up. Mr. K couldn't come because he is still working through school and he had an exam yesterday. When we arrived at the driveway, we unloaded everyone so Mom and I could walk up. The driveway is about a kilometre long and is just wide enough for one vehicle. As we pulled in, one of my grandpa's friends was leaving and we had to reverse back out to the road. Roscoe was none too happy when the SUV started backing up. He squawked his displeasure. I'm assuming he thought we were going home. The other dogs didn't know what was at the end of the road, so were more confused as to why we were going backwards instead of forward.
Once the other truck had passed us, Dad pulled back in and Mom and I got all animals out of the vehicle. There were five in total: Miss Jetta accompanied all of us too. All beasts were asked to sit and once Dad was far enough away, we let them go. Every single one of them took off like a shot, even our resident senior citizen, Jetta. Otis had to stay on leash because there are so many watery holes of doom that he could drown in. We tied an extra leash on to his though and he had a bit more lee way. We even ran with him at different spots, just to let him run with everyone else.
By the time we arrived at the top of the driveway, every dog was covered in mud and water. Hermione was not only muddy, but she had a couple of cling-ons in the form of sticks and dried leaves. I picked stuff out of her fur as best I could, but there was no point in grooming her perfectly since we were going to be there for the afternoon. My two cousins were splitting and piling wood for Grandpa since he heats his house with a wood stove during the winter. Grandpa was nowhere to be found upon our arrival, but soon appeared, driving my parents 4-wheeler out to one of his sheds. It's actually a little make shift cottage that the original owners of the property lived in when building the main house. We call it the Grettle house. I'm not entirely sure why, but the name has stuck.
My very first dog, Sasha, is buried by the Grettle house and Roscoe went to visit him. I don't know if the dogs knew he was there, but they all took turns going to his grave site and sniffing. It totally could have been a fluke, but it was interesting.
After each dog met Grandpa, Mom and I continued walking around, trying to let Otis have plenty of exercise too. Nala found the clay pit which was full of water, muddy gross water I might add, and began running back and forth in it. Roscoe followed her in and to my absolute shock and horror Hermione tried a paw or two in the sticky glop. Thankfully, Otis couldn't reach it because I am sure his little French Piggie ways would have kicked in and he would have eaten himself sick. My grandparents had a big it dug a few years after they bought the property. They used the water to water flowers and hauled it to the sauna. Sasha used it as a swimming pool. I told mom to go over to the "swimming hole" as we dubbed it, to see if Nala would go in. For once, I was relieved to hear the splashing of paws as she skidded in and began swimming around. Roscoe thought about it, but when he realised that it was over his head, he backed off. Nala emerged with a yellow body/legs and a still very black face and head. I wasn't sure how we were going to get that off, but we would have to some way.
We continued our circuit around and ended up in the garage where Grandpa was making his own drill bits. I have no idea why or how, but that is what he was doing. "The boys," (AKA my cousins, we've always called them that), were coming up the rest of the driveway with the truck full of wood to unload. Dad was driving along ahead on a kid's motorcycle with his legs sticking straight out in front of him; yelling of course. I nearly keeled over laughing. He had it going as fast as it could go and I probably could have outrun it. He had to have his legs up because he was much too tall for the little bike. The motorcycle was parked, wood unloaded and we all stood around chatting, Hermione chasing leaves and Roscoe and Nala off frolicking somewhere.
Wait.
Off frolicking where?
I pulled out my whistle and blew. Two big dogs came thundering into the garage and Nala sat perfectly in front of me. Hermione came too even though we knew where she was. As I started digging recall treats out of my pocket, something caught my attention. I breathed deeply and leaned closer to Nala. Sure enough, she smelled.
However, instead of stinking of fox or goose poop (which is a Nala special) she smelled like mint.
"Grandpa!" I exclaimed. "Do you have wild mint growing?"
He said that he did and we went off in search of the fragrant patch Nala had found. Sure enough, we found a huge area where the mint was growing wild. Not only did Nala smell better, but her face wasn't black anymore. I've decided we should plant mint at dog parks.
When we returned to the garage, I tied Otis to the leg of my chair so I didn't have to hold on to him. My cousins came back from the wood pile and Otis was so stinking excited to see them that he pulled the leg of the chair right off. One minute I'm sitting comfortably, the next there's a loud crack and I'm teetering on three legs. We switched me to a chair with metal legs and tied Otis to that. No more broken chairs.
We spent the rest of the afternoon just talking, cutting Grandpa and Dad's hair. Grandpa even peeled and cut up apples for the dogs which he gave to them. Eventually the sun went away and the boys had to head home. Grandpa was getting ready to head out to his deer stand anyway, so we packed five very tired dogs into the SUV and drove home. There was not one squawk from any of them on the drive home.
Next Saturday we're going back out for a sauna and a late lunch. Grandpa's cooking, so I'm looking forward to that. It was so nice to be home, surrounded by family, my crazy dogs and a whole lot of nature. We even got to see a deer from a distance. I can't wait to do it all again on saturday. Well, perhaps minus the broken chair leg.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Turkey Day Weekend
I hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving weekend. Well, at least those of us on the Canadian side of the Land of Ice and Snow. Our weekend was pretty low key, but it was great nonetheless.
To start things off, Friday was my Grandpa's 86th birthday and so Mom, Dad, Mr. K and I headed over for lunch. We picked up some tasty take away that consisted of roasted potatoes, chicken, ribs, salad and it was finished off by a Boston Cream cake. I forgot about Boston cream and was very happy about re-discovering it. There have been a lot of foods that I forgot about while living abroad.
That night, Tenie, Lindsay and I headed over the border to make a few purchases. I'm in the process of making hand tied blankets for a fall vender's show that will take place this Saturday and so needed fleece. The fabric store on "the other side" as we call it, was having a sale and so I made my purchases there. Lindsay and Tenie did a bit of shopping as well. Of course Nala came along and she was excellent. We went into Bath and Body Works and she did not steal anything. Lindsay and I had a good laugh remembering Glacier stealing a shower puff from one of the shelves and wandering about the store with it. He was always good at attempted shop lifting.
Saturday was a bit quiet which was nice. I went over to my parents' to do laundry and have supper. Nala and Hermione came along and both girls were very well behaved. Hermione spent the first little while chasing leaves out on the deck and engaging in leaf murder. We had a tasty supper and then had a campfire upon my request. We had originally thought that the fire would be a no go because it had been crazy windy, but the wind died down by early evening and we were able to sit outside and enjoy the fire. Nala stayed on leash because as soon as I let her off, she went adventuring. My parents' backyard is quite large, but it is not fenced in. It's impossible for the dogs to know where the property lines are, but she wouldn't come back and stick around when I called her. So, my usually good at recall dog had to stay on leash. However, she curled up on my feet and just drank in the heat from the fire. So, I think she had a good time regardless of her leash arrest.
Hermione, on the other paw, was allowed to roam free because she figured out very quickly that she was supposed to stay in our general vicinity. She would chase leaves, murder them and come back to sit on my lap or my mom's. Every time sparks flew from the fire, she went hurtling after them. Thankfully, they were always burnt out by the time she arrived to murder them. I think part of the reason she stuck around was because she liked drinking out of my wine glass. We were having a small glass and every time she hopped up on my lap, she tried to stick her nose into the glass. If I wasn't paying attention, she was successful. She also is quite crafty as sometimes she'd hop up, look at the glass and if I said, "no," she turned her head as if she wasn't interested. Then, out of nowhere, when she knew she had lulled me into a false sense of security, she'd dive into the glass. Crazy Bean.
Sunday was a busy day. Lindsay and I ran around to various stores, collecting ingredients and packaging for my cookies that are to be sold on Saturday. Once everything was purchased, we returned to my place and began on blankets and some of the cookies. Mom stopped by briefly and lent a hand chopping sweet potatoes and covering some of them in cheese and other yummy things. Mr. K and I both went to bed early that night.
Monday started out a bit more slowly, but I was soon back at tying off blankets and then we headed off to my grandparents for a delicious turkey dinner; courtesy of Mom. We ate until we couldn't move and then Dad and Mr. K cleaned up the meal. We ate around 4 and so it was an early end to the evening. I went to Mom and Dad's to watch some TV with them while Mr. K finished some of his school work at home and then worked with a high school student who needs some help in math. Mom and I even got a nice walk in before our show started, taking Jetta and Nala along.
All in all it was a great Turkey weekend.
I hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend as well. :)
To start things off, Friday was my Grandpa's 86th birthday and so Mom, Dad, Mr. K and I headed over for lunch. We picked up some tasty take away that consisted of roasted potatoes, chicken, ribs, salad and it was finished off by a Boston Cream cake. I forgot about Boston cream and was very happy about re-discovering it. There have been a lot of foods that I forgot about while living abroad.
That night, Tenie, Lindsay and I headed over the border to make a few purchases. I'm in the process of making hand tied blankets for a fall vender's show that will take place this Saturday and so needed fleece. The fabric store on "the other side" as we call it, was having a sale and so I made my purchases there. Lindsay and Tenie did a bit of shopping as well. Of course Nala came along and she was excellent. We went into Bath and Body Works and she did not steal anything. Lindsay and I had a good laugh remembering Glacier stealing a shower puff from one of the shelves and wandering about the store with it. He was always good at attempted shop lifting.
Saturday was a bit quiet which was nice. I went over to my parents' to do laundry and have supper. Nala and Hermione came along and both girls were very well behaved. Hermione spent the first little while chasing leaves out on the deck and engaging in leaf murder. We had a tasty supper and then had a campfire upon my request. We had originally thought that the fire would be a no go because it had been crazy windy, but the wind died down by early evening and we were able to sit outside and enjoy the fire. Nala stayed on leash because as soon as I let her off, she went adventuring. My parents' backyard is quite large, but it is not fenced in. It's impossible for the dogs to know where the property lines are, but she wouldn't come back and stick around when I called her. So, my usually good at recall dog had to stay on leash. However, she curled up on my feet and just drank in the heat from the fire. So, I think she had a good time regardless of her leash arrest.
Hermione, on the other paw, was allowed to roam free because she figured out very quickly that she was supposed to stay in our general vicinity. She would chase leaves, murder them and come back to sit on my lap or my mom's. Every time sparks flew from the fire, she went hurtling after them. Thankfully, they were always burnt out by the time she arrived to murder them. I think part of the reason she stuck around was because she liked drinking out of my wine glass. We were having a small glass and every time she hopped up on my lap, she tried to stick her nose into the glass. If I wasn't paying attention, she was successful. She also is quite crafty as sometimes she'd hop up, look at the glass and if I said, "no," she turned her head as if she wasn't interested. Then, out of nowhere, when she knew she had lulled me into a false sense of security, she'd dive into the glass. Crazy Bean.
Sunday was a busy day. Lindsay and I ran around to various stores, collecting ingredients and packaging for my cookies that are to be sold on Saturday. Once everything was purchased, we returned to my place and began on blankets and some of the cookies. Mom stopped by briefly and lent a hand chopping sweet potatoes and covering some of them in cheese and other yummy things. Mr. K and I both went to bed early that night.
Monday started out a bit more slowly, but I was soon back at tying off blankets and then we headed off to my grandparents for a delicious turkey dinner; courtesy of Mom. We ate until we couldn't move and then Dad and Mr. K cleaned up the meal. We ate around 4 and so it was an early end to the evening. I went to Mom and Dad's to watch some TV with them while Mr. K finished some of his school work at home and then worked with a high school student who needs some help in math. Mom and I even got a nice walk in before our show started, taking Jetta and Nala along.
All in all it was a great Turkey weekend.
I hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend as well. :)
Thursday, October 10, 2013
My Strange and Wonderful Spaniel Part 123 (For Pet Parents with Long-haired beasties).
Does your favourite fur baby have long and flowing locks? Do they have feathers on their paws/tail/legs/everywhere else? If so, this post is for you.
In the K household we have two beasties that has fur that requires constant grooming. Me being a girl who had short haired dogs all of my life, I had no idea how to tackle either of my fur babies' long, in Hermione's case, and semi-long, in Rufio's case, coats. Hermione was the first to arrive on the scene with her fluffy fur, but her feathers really didn't grow in until she was about a year old. Tenie had left Scotland when Hermione was about eight months old and when Tenie saw her for the first time upon our return to the Land of Ice and Snow, Tenie was shocked at how furry Hermione was. Hence, up until recently, I haven't really had to battle with Hermione's hair. However, I had read, before buying Hermione, that Cavaliers would most certainly have feathers and so I had started combing her when she was just a puppy to get her used to being groomed. I wasn't sure if we'd have to have her professionally groomed, but if we did I wanted to make sure Hermione would be comfortable. My biggest problem was figuring out what grooming tools I needed to keep Hermione tangle and mat free. It wasn't until Rufio came along and I was researching how to groom him for a show, that I came across an article that rained praises on the "Greyhound comb." I've blogged about this tool before, but I'll refresh your memories.
The comb is just a metal comb with teeth close together at one end and further apart on the opposite. The name is deceiving as it certainly should not be used on a Greyhound as the teeth are not soft and would probably scratch a Greyhound. In fact, the comb is a bit of a weapon. Just yesterday I dropped the comb on my bare foot and it left a small welt. This is a testament to its unsuitability for short haired dogs. I don't even really use it on our other three dogs as their coats are too short. In the aforementioned article, I read that you can use the end of the comb where the teeth are spaced further apart, to pick at knots. Essentially, you use the last tooth on the comb to pull apart the tangled fur. When I first wrote about the use of this comb, I told you how I had not had to cut knots out of either of my animals' fur since purchasing the comb. As long as you stay up on the pet's grooming regiment, cutting knots will be eliminated. So, where am I going with all of this "Greyhound comb" talk?
Since moving in to our new place, relieving schedules have been a bit of a mess. Otis has been pretty good and the big dogs are spot on of course, but Her Royal Highness, Princess Hermione Sophia has other ideas. She doesn't like going in the backyard because the grass is too long right now. We had a bit of rain over last weekend and the yard got very wet. She doesn't like that either. She had started to go in the front yard on leash, but she gets very distracted out there. There are always people, kids, other dogs and so many other distractions going by out there, that she forgets to go. So, getting her to remember to go has been a bit of a struggle. Thankfully, there is a small park at the end of the street and I've noticed that if you walk her in a bit, she will go. It's kind of annoying and I'm not sure what's going to happen when the Land of Ice and Snow actually becomes covered in ice and snow, but I guess I'll fight that battle when we get there.
Yesterday afternoon, after the dogs had eaten, I started the relieving routine and of course Hermione didn't want to go. So, off to the park we went. I walked her in further than normal in the hopes that movement would get her to go. As we were leaving, Hermione started hopping around in a strange fashion. I stopped and checked her paws and discovered that she had been attacked by a bur plant. Now, Hermione's encountered burs in Scotland, but they are not the same as the ones here. The ones in Scotland, at least where we were, were little buds that clung to her fur, but were easily pulled out. The ones here are gum ball sized and have long hooks that hook into everything, including human skin/clothes. Since moving here, Hermione's had a few run ins with bur plants, but this one was the worst I had seen.
The burs were in all but one paw; there was one on her left hip; another under her right front leg; more under her ear; and a small one clinging to the tip of her tail. I pulled out as many as I could, but it was going to take some time and actual grooming products to get these evil things off. I had noticed once before when she had one attached to a paw that water softened them so much that the hooks just let go and I could pull them off. So, I whisked her away home, knowing that a bath was probably in order.
When I got home, I went straight to the grooming drawer and pulled out the Greyhound comb (not meant for Greyhounds) and a grooming spray Brooke and Huib from Ruled by Paws so generously sent home with our crew after they watched our bunch until we arrived in Canada. I can't quite remember what the spray is called, but it is basically a waterless shampoo/conditioner. I then herded everyone out on to the back deck and carefully began picking the burs out of her fur with the end of the comb. Sometimes Hermione can be fidgety, but I think she realised I was trying to help, so she sat very still. The spray came in handy too. if her fur was not only caught up by a bur, but tangled around itself as well, I'd use the spray and the knot and bur came out very quickly. This worked well for her ears, belly, chest and hip, but the shorter yet still feathery fur on her paws was proving more difficult. The burs were so tightly tangled in that I couldn't hold the fur by the roots to ensure no pulling. Hermione was getting antsy, probably because I kept pulling her paw fur, and I still had giant burs stuck in her paws. I decided it was time to try the bath tub.
I carried Her Royal Highness upstairs and turned the water on. I lathered her paws in conditioner and let it sit for a few minutes. Then, with my wonderful Greyhound comb (not meant for Greyhounds) I was able to gently pull the rest of the knots and burs out of her fur. I made sure to thoroughly rinse the conditioner out of her fur as any soap residue can lead to hot spots which is basically a skin irritation. Hermione's paws were towelled off and she was released, completely bur free and smelling a little better.
So, what's the point of my giant rant about burs, a comb called Greyhound but is not for Greyhounds?
1. Despite its deceptive name, the Greyhound comb is a fantastic grooming tool and I would suggest to anyone who has a long haired beasty to own one.
2. Bur plants are evil.
and
. 3. Hermione needs a haircut.
Friday, October 04, 2013
She's Still a Firecracker
Since returning home there have been so many great things, but one thing that can't be ignored is the fact that I get to see Jetta on a regular basis. Jetta retired just over five years ago and she's been living a life of luxury and ease with my parents ever since. Seeing her in those five years has been difficult since my itchy feet have had me globe trotting. When I saw her on Monday evening for the first time in two and a half years I was so happy to see that even though she'll be 13 this December, she's still as spunky as ever.
Monday evening Mr. K and I went over to my parents' house to do laundry. We have a dryer, but the washing machine in our townhouse doesn't work. It's technically not the landlord's so he's not responsible for the machines. So, until we can get a part or find a washing machine, we'll be making laundry visits to my parents' place. We also had supper with them which was steaks on the barbecue; another thing I've missed. Until this past week, I had not had a barbecued steak in over two years. It's not that barbecues don't exist in the UK. It's more a case of us living in the middle of a city in a tiny flat that strictly said "no barbecues in the garden." Not only did I get to eat barbecued steak and do laundry, but Jetta was there to greet us at the door when we walked in.
Age has hardly changed her.
She's a bit plumper than before, but she still hops about and wags her whole back end when someone comes in the front door. She and I even played our "vicious" game which consists of me rubbing her hips and singing "vicious" while she goes around in circles growling at me. The game wasn't quite as intense as it used to be, but she certainly hasn't forgotten.
Last night I got to see her again as I went over for supper. With Mr. K being gone for a few days, my parents told me to come over to have food last night too. Tonight I get to return the favor with pasta and meatballs at my place.
Jetta was there, hopping at the top of the stairs waiting for me to come up. She was a bit more interested in sniffing Nala since I brought her over this time, but eventually Jetta remembered I was there too and started hop dancing for me too. We were running a bit behind schedule so I fed Jetta and Flash (my parents other dog) while mom got the rest of supper ready. I fed Flash outside because she doesn't like other dogs. She's fine with Jetta, but she growled at Nala and tried to nip her nose when we came up the driveway, despite me holding cheese under her nose. It's just something we'll have to work on with her.
Jetta was her old self, waiting just behind me as I scooped out the food. She sat when I told her to, but she quivered with anticipation as she always did. It's like she's sitting, but her butt is spring loaded and as soon as you utter the first syllable of "okay," she's off, face in bowl. The funny thing is that she eats slowly for a Lab and chews her food. She's always done that. She also has this little dance where she goes up on her back paws while you bring her bowl over to the eating spot. It's like she's trying to see into the bowl while you're walking it over. Her old joints still allow her to do this too. I had forgotten about the dance until she started rearing up on her back legs as I carried her dish.
I know she's an old girl and we should be thankful for every day we get with her. She's still very healthy and energetic though so that makes me happy.
For some people, she would be viewed as "just a dog" and some probably wonder why or don't understand why I would want to be around her in her senior years, but when a dog dedicates six years of her life to keeping you safe, and when she's the first one to do so, getting to enjoy her retirement with her is pretty special.
Monday evening Mr. K and I went over to my parents' house to do laundry. We have a dryer, but the washing machine in our townhouse doesn't work. It's technically not the landlord's so he's not responsible for the machines. So, until we can get a part or find a washing machine, we'll be making laundry visits to my parents' place. We also had supper with them which was steaks on the barbecue; another thing I've missed. Until this past week, I had not had a barbecued steak in over two years. It's not that barbecues don't exist in the UK. It's more a case of us living in the middle of a city in a tiny flat that strictly said "no barbecues in the garden." Not only did I get to eat barbecued steak and do laundry, but Jetta was there to greet us at the door when we walked in.
Age has hardly changed her.
She's a bit plumper than before, but she still hops about and wags her whole back end when someone comes in the front door. She and I even played our "vicious" game which consists of me rubbing her hips and singing "vicious" while she goes around in circles growling at me. The game wasn't quite as intense as it used to be, but she certainly hasn't forgotten.
Last night I got to see her again as I went over for supper. With Mr. K being gone for a few days, my parents told me to come over to have food last night too. Tonight I get to return the favor with pasta and meatballs at my place.
Jetta was there, hopping at the top of the stairs waiting for me to come up. She was a bit more interested in sniffing Nala since I brought her over this time, but eventually Jetta remembered I was there too and started hop dancing for me too. We were running a bit behind schedule so I fed Jetta and Flash (my parents other dog) while mom got the rest of supper ready. I fed Flash outside because she doesn't like other dogs. She's fine with Jetta, but she growled at Nala and tried to nip her nose when we came up the driveway, despite me holding cheese under her nose. It's just something we'll have to work on with her.
Jetta was her old self, waiting just behind me as I scooped out the food. She sat when I told her to, but she quivered with anticipation as she always did. It's like she's sitting, but her butt is spring loaded and as soon as you utter the first syllable of "okay," she's off, face in bowl. The funny thing is that she eats slowly for a Lab and chews her food. She's always done that. She also has this little dance where she goes up on her back paws while you bring her bowl over to the eating spot. It's like she's trying to see into the bowl while you're walking it over. Her old joints still allow her to do this too. I had forgotten about the dance until she started rearing up on her back legs as I carried her dish.
I know she's an old girl and we should be thankful for every day we get with her. She's still very healthy and energetic though so that makes me happy.
For some people, she would be viewed as "just a dog" and some probably wonder why or don't understand why I would want to be around her in her senior years, but when a dog dedicates six years of her life to keeping you safe, and when she's the first one to do so, getting to enjoy her retirement with her is pretty special.
Thursday, October 03, 2013
The Biggest Water Bowl Ever!
We have been back in the land of Ice and snow for only a week and a half, but our dogs have seen and experienced more things than they ever have. The funny thing is that despite me attempting to socialise them the best I could while in Scotland, there were things I missed. Not because I wasn't paying attention and definitely not for lack of trying, but more because the lifestyle is different. We've gone from living in a capital city with wee flats and wee cars to living in a small Northern Ontario town with bigger living accommodations and even bigger trucks. We've had more visitors in the past ten days than we have in a year and we've left the wee dogs at home alone more than they have been in all of their lives. We're just more social here and have more places to go. Despite all of the changes, they're starting to settle in. Otis is much more vocal than he used to be, but I think it's insecurity. Once he feels more comfortable, and once he gets the big "snip snip," a lot of those behaviors will go away. But his barking is not what prompted today's post. Aside from the bigger houses and bigger vehicles, Otis and Hermione, and Nala too, have seen the largest water bowl ever.
Yesterday, we loaded up my mom's SUV, one of those bigger vehicles I'm talking about, and drove part way to meet Mr. K's mom. It's our nephew's birthday this weekend and Mr. K is off to spend some much needed quality time with the K klan. We met up with Grandma K and everyone got to meet her. Roscoe knows her very well of course and he was so excited to see her. It was just a quick exchange as no one wanted to drive in the dark and Mr. K and Grandma K were off. Mom hadn't eaten so we ran through a drive through and parked in a docking area. There's an island you can take a ferry across to in the little town we met Grandma K in, where no motorized vehicles, except emergency vehicles, are allowed. Everyone travels by bike, foot or horses. They also have some of the best fudge you will ever eat. It was a gorgeous day and we sat with the sun shining in on us while mom ate. We then found a paved walkway and took the remaining three dogs for a short walk. They loved it.
there were tons of people out walking, sitting on benches, reading books. There were even a few other dogs. The walkway ran along side a beach that lead down to Lake Huron, one of the five lakes that make up what we call "The Great Lakes." Otis was completely taken with the waves. He is certainly food motivated, but if I could train using water, he'd be the best trained dog on the planet. He will do anything for a drink of water even if he's not thirsty. He kept staring at the water rolling in and trying to pull mom down to the shoreline. Eventually, we did trudge over beach grass and sand to get down to a little pool to let the dogs drink. It was a warm day, especially for October, and we both figured the dogs needed some water.
Nala was excited and instead of drinking, initially, she tried to drag me closer to the actual lake so she could go swimming. I finally have a water baby for a guide dog.
Hermione promptly started drinking, trying to keep her precious paws dry. She didn't seem to mind her ear feathers dipping into the water though.
As for Otis, the little guy was in Heaven. Mom kept a tight grip on his leash as she has been lectured a hundred times by me about how easily Frenchies can drown. The pool wasn't deep, but I was worried he might try to bolt towards the area with more water which was deep. He happily thrust is little squished face into the water, up to his eyeballs and didn't even notice when waves washed over his face. He drank and drank. He was so excited about having so much water and mud at his disposal. Of course we didn't let him drink until he burst. He still had a longish car ride ahead of him. When Hermione was finished drinking, we decided that Otis was done too. Hermione actually drank more than she normally does and she was desperate to go by the time we pulled into my driveway.
On the walk back to the vehicle, Otis was even more adamant that he should return to the lake. This was his first experience with a lake and all I could think of while he tried to pull his Grandma T back to the water was:
"Grandma! We have to go back to the biggest water bowl ever! We have to! Plllleeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaassseeeeeeee!!!!!"
Yesterday, we loaded up my mom's SUV, one of those bigger vehicles I'm talking about, and drove part way to meet Mr. K's mom. It's our nephew's birthday this weekend and Mr. K is off to spend some much needed quality time with the K klan. We met up with Grandma K and everyone got to meet her. Roscoe knows her very well of course and he was so excited to see her. It was just a quick exchange as no one wanted to drive in the dark and Mr. K and Grandma K were off. Mom hadn't eaten so we ran through a drive through and parked in a docking area. There's an island you can take a ferry across to in the little town we met Grandma K in, where no motorized vehicles, except emergency vehicles, are allowed. Everyone travels by bike, foot or horses. They also have some of the best fudge you will ever eat. It was a gorgeous day and we sat with the sun shining in on us while mom ate. We then found a paved walkway and took the remaining three dogs for a short walk. They loved it.
there were tons of people out walking, sitting on benches, reading books. There were even a few other dogs. The walkway ran along side a beach that lead down to Lake Huron, one of the five lakes that make up what we call "The Great Lakes." Otis was completely taken with the waves. He is certainly food motivated, but if I could train using water, he'd be the best trained dog on the planet. He will do anything for a drink of water even if he's not thirsty. He kept staring at the water rolling in and trying to pull mom down to the shoreline. Eventually, we did trudge over beach grass and sand to get down to a little pool to let the dogs drink. It was a warm day, especially for October, and we both figured the dogs needed some water.
Nala was excited and instead of drinking, initially, she tried to drag me closer to the actual lake so she could go swimming. I finally have a water baby for a guide dog.
Hermione promptly started drinking, trying to keep her precious paws dry. She didn't seem to mind her ear feathers dipping into the water though.
As for Otis, the little guy was in Heaven. Mom kept a tight grip on his leash as she has been lectured a hundred times by me about how easily Frenchies can drown. The pool wasn't deep, but I was worried he might try to bolt towards the area with more water which was deep. He happily thrust is little squished face into the water, up to his eyeballs and didn't even notice when waves washed over his face. He drank and drank. He was so excited about having so much water and mud at his disposal. Of course we didn't let him drink until he burst. He still had a longish car ride ahead of him. When Hermione was finished drinking, we decided that Otis was done too. Hermione actually drank more than she normally does and she was desperate to go by the time we pulled into my driveway.
On the walk back to the vehicle, Otis was even more adamant that he should return to the lake. This was his first experience with a lake and all I could think of while he tried to pull his Grandma T back to the water was:
"Grandma! We have to go back to the biggest water bowl ever! We have to! Plllleeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaassseeeeeeee!!!!!"
Tuesday, October 01, 2013
Surprise!
I'm starting to think we should play "Where's Waldo," but with me instead.
Can any of you guess where I am? (Shhhhh, those of you who already know).
It starts with "Ca" and ends with "nada."
Need another hint? :P
Probably not, eh? ;)
If you guessed that I'm back in the land of ice and snow, you are right. There were a whole lot of reasons for our move, yes move, but I won't bore you with all the details. Basically, we're living in my hometown now and have been for a week. We have a townhouse that seems like a palace in comparison to our wee flat in Scotland. Everyone made the trip back with us and they are all enjoying the extra space too. We ran into a few glitches along the way which caused so much stress, but it all worked out. Brooke from "Ruled by Paws" and her husband, were kind enough to get the animals from the airport since they arrived in Canada before us. They kept Hermione, Otis and Rufio for three nights and returned them all smelling wonderful. The move back wouldn't have worked out without their help. My parents drove to Toronto and picked us all up and then dropped us off directly into our new home.
So, that's it in a nutshell. I have more to say, obviously, since this is such a huge change, but I figured I should at least start with us changing locations first.
Can any of you guess where I am? (Shhhhh, those of you who already know).
It starts with "Ca" and ends with "nada."
Need another hint? :P
Probably not, eh? ;)
If you guessed that I'm back in the land of ice and snow, you are right. There were a whole lot of reasons for our move, yes move, but I won't bore you with all the details. Basically, we're living in my hometown now and have been for a week. We have a townhouse that seems like a palace in comparison to our wee flat in Scotland. Everyone made the trip back with us and they are all enjoying the extra space too. We ran into a few glitches along the way which caused so much stress, but it all worked out. Brooke from "Ruled by Paws" and her husband, were kind enough to get the animals from the airport since they arrived in Canada before us. They kept Hermione, Otis and Rufio for three nights and returned them all smelling wonderful. The move back wouldn't have worked out without their help. My parents drove to Toronto and picked us all up and then dropped us off directly into our new home.
So, that's it in a nutshell. I have more to say, obviously, since this is such a huge change, but I figured I should at least start with us changing locations first.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)