This Looks Like a Nice Spot!

Monsoon, you can't just stop walking.

I only paused for a moment to pluck a couple weeds. It wasn't a covert signal for naptime.

Look, that's not even a comfy place. There are much, much softer places in the yard, where grass is lush and there aren't as many rocks and roots. There's an acre of squishy moss!

Get up, buddy. You're little, but you're still too big to drag around like this.

"No, Mama. I'm good."

 

Wordless Wednesday

L: Ki-lee, who made me want a little black dog of my own
R: Monsoon, my little heart-healer

Gettysburg 2012

The Myth of the "High Energy" Greyhound, Dispelled

Monsoon, on our way!

Getting comfy in the hotel

Some of my favorite things: Houndies, adult beverages, and other people of like mind!

Beautiful queen Blueberry

Bunny the Supermodel

Okay, Chester's a chocolate lab. But spend five minutes with him and his mom and you'll know why we love them so much!

Monsoon handled all the socializing incredibly well!

If you don't know them already, you can get to know Chester here and Bunny and Blueberry over here. I'm blessed to know them and their parents, to have such wonderful people and animals in my life. If you'd like to see more candid shots I did get some up on the Facebook page here. I apologize for this short update; as usual, I have too many issues and not enough time or mental energy.

But I always, always remember: I have the most amazing pack of friends in the world.

We’re participating in this Saturday’s Pet Blog Hop, hosting by Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers and Confessions of the Plume.  If you’d like to participate, please follow the rules and follow your three hosts, add your blog to the Linky and copy and paste the html code into your html editor.  Thanks again to our hosts for putting on the hop!

Whirly Wednesday!

(Edited to add: May induce motion sickness or vertigo!)

I WILL Take My Vacation!

"Tell me more about this 'vacation' thing, Mom..."

I know I'm a little late to the party this week, but I have a slew of excuses designed to make you feel really, really bad for me.

A couple of weeks ago I lost a crucial battle in my ongoing war with gravity and fell down a couple of steps; several casualties resulted. My favorite ice coffee cup, with its double walled construction and purple straw, shattered on impact with the driveway. My laptop, my dear friend and companion, fell about six feet straight down and landed flat on the gravel. I hoped, a futile weak little hope, that it might defy my luck and survive.

It did not.

The third casualty of this stupid fall, more important than the cup and arguably less emotionally devastating that the laptop, was my left ankle. Something in there is sprained and something in there is probably, I admit, broken. I've broken foot bones before. (Did I mention this battle against gravity is not new to me?) The husband and I are having a long-term "discussion" about exactly when I should go to the doctor. Obviously, I can't go to the doctor because what if something is way more broken than I think? What if an xray says I need to be in a cast? I am going on vacation. Already, one dog-blogging friend of mine is grounded due to broken bone and given how much I plan to harass him over it, I'd better show up myself, limping or not.

Next. On Tuesday of this week I noticed our preschooler breathing funny. You're just going to have to trust me when I say I have laser-sighted instincts about this kid's breathing, given some severe respiratory problems he's had in the past. Heart full of foreboding, I trotted him off to the pediatrician and waited for the words "You're overreacting."

Ha ha ha! The doctor never says that to me. He said, "We need some xrays. Now." Surprise, your instincts are great, your little boy has pneumonia.

Thursday night we dropped of my vehicle for pre-inspection repairs that guarantee I will not be enjoying the comforts of a new laptop anytime soon, since the necessary funds and a lot of other funds besides are now devoted toward getting my vehicle in state-inspection-passing shape. (They are SO picky about little things like giant cracks in the windshield. Jeez. That's the price of a laptop right there!)

Obviously the only way to end the week was for the little boy to start feeling better at the same time I came down with a sudden incapacitating case of the Martian Sinus Cold. I don't remember the past couple of days. I promise you I spent yesterday asleep.

None of this is going to change my plans. I'll see you at Gettysburg. I'll be the one limping along with a neurotic little black houndie trying to hide behind me.

If you're also going to GiG and want to say hi, please feel free to get in touch with me through FB, here! I'll add the usual disclaimer that any personality I display on the internet tends to evaporate when I'm placed into "real life."

Forever and Six Months

Six months ago today, I sobbed into your golden fur for the last time.

There's no more to this post, because I can't bear to write it. It doesn't hurt any less today than it did six months ago and looking through pictures of you just breaks my heart over and over.

Making Progress

I haven't written a lot in the blog about Monsoon's anxieties, largely because of my own.

You see, I do well with most dogs. I'm not an "expert" and I'm not trained in any way and I haven't even read all that many books or sites on training. I just find dogs very easy to communicate with.

Monsoon has been a challenge.

It's not that I have a hard time understanding him. He's not subtle. The challenge is in making him understand that he's safe. I have to work with him, exposing him to scary things (like lawn furniture or blowing leaves, for example) without overloading his little brain and provoking a panic reaction.

He does panic sometimes. When my husband and I walk the dogs outside, if Husband should decide his head is chilly and put on his hood, Monsoon forgets instantaneously that's his dad. Dad disappears and is replaced by Terrifying Hooded Stranger, and there is anxious growling.

He still barks at me when I come home sometimes -- if I am carrying too many frightening grocery bags.

When he is relaxed and playing, he's amazing. He's a complete puppy, all that demented manic energy. He's been a huge help with aerating the lawn and we're really looking forward to getting some fence up so he can expend more of that energy off leash.

Last Saturday we had a test play date. I have been terminally unsure about bringing Monsoon to Greyhounds in Gettysburg because of all these issues, but my mind is at ease. I think he's going to have a lot of anxious moments and I plan to get him a red bandanna, code for "I may be nervous, please leave me alone."

 

His tongue is ginormous relative to his tiny head. That's Charm on the right.

Overall, he did so well; I was so proud of him. He wants to be brave. He wants to play and sniff people and get pats and rubs. It takes him a while to settle down and he needs a lot of space to get used to people, but he passed this test with flying colors. We will see you in Gettysburg, I am thrilled to report! There are a few more pictures of our day over at the Facebook page here, if you're interested.

I wasn't able to get a picture, but on the way home he curled up in the back of the van and cuddled with Charm. Charm (along with her mom) is special to me. Seeing Monsoon snuggle up to her and relax was a special moment for me. I did pretty well, though. I didn't cry.

My angel Drive and his friend Charm, a year ago

We’re participating in this Saturday’s Pet Blog Hop, hosting by Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers and Confessions of the Plume.  If you’d like to participate, please follow the rules and follow your three hosts, add your blog to the Linky and copy and paste the html code into your html editor.  Thanks again to our hosts for putting on the hop!
This is a Blog Hop!