A few days ago I took the pups for a walk on our usual route. When I get to a partially enclosed green-belt area I let them off their leashes to run freely. This day that was a mistake. A lady approached with two labs, also not on their leashes. As dogs do, the four dogs began sniffing each other. Bella didn't like that and got a little aggressive but the easy-going lab persisted. Before I knew it Bella was running towards the street with the lab following closely behind.

I yelled for her to stop but she just kept going. The lab returned to it's owner. I ran after Bella with Wolfie in tow. I saw Bella running up the street towards the main highway and she was still yelping in total fright. It was both comical and sad at the same time. I knew there was no way I was going to catch her so I ran home in the hope of getting in my car to go search for her.

She was on a route which I have only taken the dogs on a few times to get them used to the area we live in. So just as I'm approaching my house what do I see? Bella....she's already at the front door. With tremendous relief I take her in the house where my wife meets me. I'm so out of breath I can't even talk. My wife explains that she heard loud scratching on the front door while she was upstairs in the office. She was afraid to open the door.

We were amazed that Bella made her way home on a route she had rarely traveled. Our pets are amazing creatures. So I guess the message here is to not take your dogs on the same walking route everyday but to mix it up so that they become accustomed to the whole area you live in. They have amazing memories/senses and instincts as I found out.

Last night was interesting to say the least. I was in the kitchen while my wife was watching TV with the pups. All of sudden I hear her screaming for me to come and help her. Apparently, Bella vomited all over my wifes lap! But here's the gross part...I hesitate to even say it...there was a lizard in the vomit! Luckily my wife had a blanket on her lap. She's yelling for me to take away the lizard and there's no way I'm gonna touch that thing. So I wrapped up the blanket and took it outside where I hosed it down. Today it's in the washer. Last week Bella killed a mouse in the yard and I was able to discard it before she decided to eat it. And a few weeks before that I saw the pups congregating in an area of the yard; upon investigation I found a still-wiggling lizard's tail. Geez. Never a dull moment.

I'd thought I'd seen it all by now. Not true. Always more to come. Wolfie and Bella have the habit of watching us go to the bathroom, esp. Wolfie. No big deal I figured. Well it turns out that now Wolfie has decided he is more human than dog and is starting to piddle on the bathroom floor in the middle of the night. I guess he figures if we use the bathroom why can't he. It's easy to clean up especially since we have ceramic floors in the bathrooms. I have had to have a "talk" with him and told him he needs to go pottie outside. I thought we were done with housebreaking in the first year when he was still a puppie. I hope he doesn't decide to start going number 2 on the floor. Little booger.

I was reminded by this poignant slide show that grieving is not just for people that we have lost but for our dear pets that we have adopted into our lives. Get out your tissues:

Miah Slide show

Well, I thought I've seen it all. These dogs never fail to amaze me. As you know from my earlier threads, my Westies love rawhide chews. Bella especially has the rawhide chewie fetish. Same time every night about 8 pm she starts to turn that female charm of her's on. She climbs all over me, gives me kisses, and makes all sorts of lovable gestures. We like to make her "talk" and keep asking her what she wants until she can't take it anymore. So finally with chewie in her mouth she is a happy little dog and then goes off somewhere to enjoy her treat. So this night I decided to see if she would "share" her chewie with me. To my amazement, she came over to where I was sitting on the couch, with her chewie in her mouth, climbed up on my chest as I was reclined and proceeded to try and shove the damp, soggy leather chewie into my mouth! The more I laughed the more she tried to feed me. I was in hysterics; these dogs really do understand and have thought processes! She wanted to share with me. After I rinsed and wiped my mouth I had to tell my wife. She was in hysterics laughing too. Never a dull moment.

On New Years Day me and my wife were enjoying a movie on TV when suddenly we noticed that Bella was choking. She had been chewing on a rawhide chewy when evidently it had become a small piece about 1 inch square. Immediately I grabbed her, turned her with her head facing down and gave her a few sharp slaps on her back between the shoulder blades. To my horror, it didn't work...she was still in distress and panicking. I had to hold her as firmly as possible and then force her mouth open. I felt the object which was lodged in the back of her throat and was able to pull it out with my fingers. While this was going on Wolfie ran outside and then back inside again. He was freaking. He must have thought we were hurting Bella. We comforted Bella and Buddy. Bella was definitely traumatized; I think she realized the severity of what had just happened. My blood pressure must have gone thru the roof during the ordeal.

My wife was very grateful for my actions but asked if there would have been something better I could have done. This got me thinking so I went online and realized it would have been safer and better had I used the Heimlich Manuever on the dog. I came across this article on how to give the heimlich manuever to your dog if it is choking. I now know what to do. The real scarey part is what would have happened if no one was home when this happened? So we decided to only give rawhide chewy treats to our dogs when we are home and not to keep rawhides that have gotten to a small size. I never thought this would have happened. Don't let it happen to you. Be prepared.

The pups had a ball on Christmas when they got their stockings full of goodies. Wolfie was so excited he was shaking. Here's some photos of my wife giving them their treats. When all was done, Wolfie grabbed the large rawhide bone which was stuffed with some sort of marrow. He wouldn't let go of it all night...he even took it to bed with him and kept it in his mouth because he knows Bella will steal it whenever the opportunity rises. He looked like he had a deformed mouth as he slept. They now go under the tree and sniff everything, especially the boxes of candy. Wolfie stole my wife's small jewelry box with a bracelet but she retrieved it unharmed. We let them rip up the wrapping paper from our gifts...it was a mess but they were such fun to watch.

It's the morning after Thanksgiving and the pups refuse to get out of bed! It must be true what they say about turkey making you sleepy. Well the pups had a feast of turkey and gravy mixed in with their kibble last night. They are really lazy today. Must be a dog's life all right. Come on, wake up pups, we have work to do!

It's funny how some scenes could be mis-interpreted, such as two dogs playing. Someone not accustomed to dogs could think that they are fighting when in fact they are just playing. I recall reading about someones neighbor who called the cops because she thought that the other neighbor's dogs were being encouraged to fight. They were just playing. Bella and Wolfie know where to draw the line They know if they have gone to far as to possibly hurt the other one and in effect say "sorry, I didn't mean it". Here's some photos I took of them "playing" together. They play like this when they are happy, especially after a meal of something they really enjoyed. They growl, grunt, bark, and have a heck of a time...they love it...they're not fighting, theyre playing. If they were ever fighting and their instincts for survival kicked in, their teeth would become deadly weapons. Thank God, other than one small incident, this has never happened. Judge for yourself:

Good puppies!

Yesterday our best friend died unexpectedly from cancer. We are still numb and shocked. Just can't believe he is gone. We had just visited him this past weekend. I am so thankful that we did. For over the past 20 years he and his wife and me and my wife would travel all over SoCal, going to resorts together, thrift store shopping, dining, casinos, etc. We were like little kids when we were together...chattering incessantly, telling jokes, fantasizing...we had great times together. We also shared our most intimate bad times together.

Our two dogs have been a great comfort for us in this difficult time. They sense the sadness we have. They are such a consolation. They make us laugh. They still want their walks. They need to be tended to. There is no time to be alone and in deep depression. The dogs just won't allow it. They still want to be held and petted. Last night when they were both rolling on the floor playing together I couldn't help but be grateful to God for allowing pets into our lives. There's a reason for pets being here. In a lot of ways they are our emotional therapists. Be kind to your pets. Don't be cruel to any animals. They are all precious.

Rest in peace my dear friend. Wolfie and Bella miss you too.

It may appear that Wolfie and Bella are copacetic with this stuffed "Peanuts" themed teddy bear but in reality they would rather eat it. Our daughter Molly just started making these by herself. One past night she brought several bears over to our house for us to see. The pups went crazy. Whenever they see stuffed animals they think it is theirs to chew up and tear apart. It's almost like they think they're alive. This picture wasn't hard to get them to pose but when I was done, Wolfie quickly followed me to see where I put the bear. Ha! He's not getting this so I put it up high out of his reach.

Below are a few samples of Molly's bears. If you think you might like to own one, you can go to Mollys Creations here for more examples and information, or email her directly.

Here are some photos for your dog blog!  The one of me with the green parrot "kito" I am trying to kiss him and he bit my nose, the
one of the really colorful parrot is one of the best beauties in the parrot world, the one of me with the two parrots Julio and
Chico I was intense as Julio was getting ready to bite and the other one is me and my parrot (chicken) wing addiction!  Forgot, the colorful Parrot's name is Sydney and he is a scarlet chested parakeet....Darren, BuffaloParrot.com.

Thanks Darren, beautiful birds. My pups are drooling!!

 

Recently my Daughter-in-law had the opportunity to go on a ghost hunt with Grant, Jason, Tango, Steve, and gang at the old Buffalo, NY Train Terminal. I got to thinking if there are dog ghosts (let alone human ghosts). When I was a kid my brother and me had a beautiful labrador retriever that died at age 5. Soon after she had died we both heard claws walking across the hardwood floors and a choker chain being dragged. We both slept in the same bedroom and heard this at the same time. We were spooked to say the least, yet we didin't feel threatened...as a matter of fact I think we felt reassured. Oh well, here are a couple of pics from that Buffalo outing with Ghosthunters; she is between Grant and Steve (nice pants!):