Goodbye Mack....

We had to say goodbye to Mack this afternoon. He was such a cute, sweet looking puppy, but he had a really ugly side. That side showed up anytime dh or That Kid walked into the room. He would growl, snap, and bark profusely till they left his site. It was getting scary for them to walk into the room.

I called the lady that we got him from and they didn't want to take him back, so I took him to the animal shelter. He even growled at the ladies there. It will be awhile before I go get another puppy from "just an ad".

Soooo, anyone know of a cute newborn puppy that we can raise from infancy that won't growl, bark or snap at anyone in our house?

Some Stuff in My Life....

I've been pretty vague on this here blog o'mine for the past few weeks. Things have been a little stressful in our family and I have just been a little too out of sorts to really talk about it, but then this afternoon as I'm sitting here wasting a lovely fall/winter afternoon doing nothing in particular I decided it's time to spill it... Soooo if you don't want to know what's been REALLY happening in my life, just move on. This may take a while, too so feel free to come back when you have more time or just skip it. Few people will really care...and that's ok. This blog is really so I can have a place to rant, ramble, and document stuff.

So....moving on.


The Friday before Thanksgiving I took our 11 1/2 year old Sheltie to the vet. He had all of a sudden decided that That Other Kid's room was the ideal place to pee. Even though he went outside constantly and hasn't done such a thing since he was about 6 months old. At first we didn't think much about it...just deviant behavior from our old-out-of-sorts dog. But, after cleaning up pee in That Other Kid's bedroom for about 3 weeks, I decided he needed to go see the vet....maybe he had something wrong with him that needed to be taken care of.

Boy....was I sadly shocked! The vet couldn't find anything initially wrong with him, but decided to run some blood work on him. His liver counts were out of this world....turns out he was a VERY SICK PUPPY. She gave me some anti-biotics and told me to give them to him and she would call me Monday with the final results from those blood tests. I took him home with me and fed him his lunch, putting the pill in the food. Now keep in mind that this is a dog who BEGS to be fed, every chance he gets. He didn't touch the food and wanted to be outside ALL.THE.TIME! i let him stay outside, giving him water. That night he came in and STILL HE DID NOT EAT!! ALL WEEKEND LONG!! NO FOOD!!! I called the vet Monday, told her he didn't eat, refused meds, etc. She said bring him back the blood work is not good. I bring him back to the vet...and LONG STORY SHORT....Tuesday morning we took him to the vet to be put to sleep. It was a VERY SAD Thanksgiving for our family...

Now that we've had a couple of weeks to adapt the house seems lonely with only our snobby cat. Both boys want a new puppy, but I know I will be the one to potty-train, walk, feed, etc. this new puppy so I said not till spring! I can't deal with all that and cold weather, too...

Moving on...I haven't been feeling all that great, which is hindering my exercise routine, that I had gotten into. I went to the doctor last weekend, because I'm having problems hearing and my ears hurt ALOT!! Not to mention, scratchy throat and sinus headaches. She basically said I have a cold; rest, drink plenty of fluids, and call back if I don't get better....then she charged me $142 because it was the weekend, and they couldn't verify my health insurance benefits. Never mind that they have all my info on file....UGHH...All this while I am trying to lose weight, just doesn't fly well with me. I have to exercise, eat right and feel good....in order to make it happen. This week on Wednesday I have an appointment to see the ENT, maybe he can make me right again.

On the bright side....I have been sleeping BEAUTIFULLY with my CPAP sleep mask! I put it on right before I go to sleep, and I sleep all night long unless someone wakes me!! No getting up to go to the bathroom, no listening to dh snore....just peaceful, deep sleep!! Ah...Now I just need to go to bed earlier...oh well, one step at a time!

Ok...well this is long enough and probably bored everybody to death, but I feel better and it is finally documented....

A Dog Tail

Here are a couple of shots of out completely tolerant dog, Rex. Read on for more of the story. (Oh, and ignore the "junk" in the shot with him, he wasn't really in the mood for a formal pose in a perfect location.)

Beth Moore and her daughter Amanda write one of the best blogs I read on a regular basis. Check them out http://livingproofministries.blogspot.com/

and you will be blessed, for sure! The entry there today was about dogs and their antics. I thought to myself, Gosh, it's too bad I don't have anything clever to write about our dog, Rex or "poopfin" in the words of That Other Kid and lo and behold he did something worth writin' about, at least it will get a laugh.

He is a Sheltie and sometimes that tail just gets in the way of his bodily functions, if you get my drift. Today was one of those days. We kept smelling something strange whenever the dog came near us. We thought, maybe he has gas -- out he goes. A few minutes later he come back in, we still smell it. Oh well, he just needs a bath.

A little later, we see a smear of, how shall we say it, residue, on the carpet, exactly where he had just laid down. Then a few minutes later another smear. Ok, lets take a looksee ''Oh yes, there is a BIG Smear of Residue"! The dog goes out and I get the distinct pleasure of hosing the dog down. Now if you knew me very well you would know that this dog was not my idea--I'm not a dog person. I am much more of a cat person, so this was not my idea of a fun activity and there was always the thought "what if he decides to take a hunk out of my hand or steps on my "still bruised, and broken toe". But alas, he is the best dog, ever and he just stood there and let me clean his b*tt with a cold hose. He was happy to be done with this little "torture" and I gave him extra treats.
Hope to read some more great dog stories, soon.