Finally, a break

Well, my week of hell is finally over. There was some drama, some serious stress, too much exhaustion, and a lot of chaos, but it's all over and done with :) We are all moved out of the apartment, and the inspection is done, and we're all moving forward.

The dogs are doing much better. Cory had all sorts of allergies going on, and he's on some serious meds and is doing much better! A brand new doggy. Charlie is doing better as well, but we'll see how he does once his round of medication is done...

He had a very busy couple of days in Burlington, as well. Not only did he have to put up with me moving things all over the place, but he was in and out of the car all day, but he did really well. And I tried to walk him as often as possible, and we made lots of trips to the dog park!

We had a few interesting moments together, however...

So, I have my dads car while my parents on vacation - and although it doesn't have AC, it DOES have automatic windows, which makes it easier for me to provide some fresh air for Charlie when he's either in the back seat or the passenger seat. So I've got the windows all down, and Charlie is looking around and enjoying the weather; we stop at a stop sign, but because of traffic we were sort of over the crosswalk a bit, so naturally there was a pedestrian on the sidewalk waiting to cross. He was a big dude, just hanging out, minding his own business, and in anticipation for the traffic to move, he began to move forward, and Charlie did NOT like that at all. He immediately started barking at him, to which I settled him down and we moved forward, but it was definitely interesting.

He's also getting better about meeting people - and generally, people in Burlington are extremely friendly and respectful towards dogs and their owners. Many people recognize that he's a rescue dog just by his demeanor towards strangers, so they're very sweet. Some other people, aren't so cautious. We were in the local video store visiting a very good friend of mine who works there and several people got right down on their knees and just showered him with love and kisses and hugs - it was so, so sweet; and they all asked beforehand if it was OK to pet him - which was also really awesome. But, we were in the corner looking at some videos, and someone, dressed in all dark clothing carrying a large bag (he really doesn't like anyone with big bags) came marching around the corner, clearly knowing exactly what she wanted. Charlie started barking and got quite defensive - I apologized and calmed him down and explained he was a rescue and gets nervous around strangers - but she cut me off and responded with a brief, "yeah, ok, I guess I'm cornering him, sorry," and pushed me aside to get her video. Rude!

But that's going to happen. Some people are animal people, and some people just aren't! Whatcha gonna do.

And we spent the night in the new apartment last night - I was on an air mattress and we were both totally exhausted. Charlie curled up on his bed, but immediately saw me crawl into my little air mattress bed and he came right over and zonked out right next to me. I'm noticing that he dreams quite vividly, because I'm finding that he kicks me in his sleep! Funny boy. He's like me - he likes to take up as much of the bed as possible, he kicks in his sleep, and he tends to roll over on top of his bed mate - i.e. me. But I certainly wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

So now I'm home, and my other doggies were here at home for the last two nights. My wonderful neighbor has been keeping an eye on them, and has been giving Cory his meds. But they were totally excited that I was home - I haven't seen Cory that excited in such a long time. Now we're all in the living room curling up for some movies.

I'm about ready to not think about anything that has to do with cleaning, packing, unpacking, or driving for the next 24 hours. So I will be parking myself on the couch with the dogs until I absolutely have to get up :)

*Bangs head against wall repeatedly*

The last week has been unbelievable. Our house was so chaotic, my mother and I were at our wits ends. Dad is just... well, dad. He tends to handle these situations rather quietly.

Anyway - picture this: a pile of boxes, bags, and camping supplies for mom and dad in one area; a pile of boxes, cleaning supplies, and odds and ends for me to move to Burlington with in another area; a pile of boxes, folders, and baskets full of photographs for mom's genealogy work in another area; too much recycle, laundry, and towels all over the place in piles. For about 36 hours, that's what our house looked like. My parents finally get on the road, and my immediate thought is: awesome, some peace and quiet, they're on vacation, and the dogs are relaxed now. So my first night was smooth, the next day was quiet and I did some work and got some laundry and cleaning done... fantastic. All is well..

And then this morning happens. I wake up after a restful night sleep and begin preparing for my trip over to Burlington to meet up with the landlord to pick up the keys and to begin my actual MOVE down to the new place. I have my coffee. I shower. I feed the birds and rats and cat. And then I head downstairs to grab the laundry from the dryer... only to see diarrhea... everywhere. Trails left and right. Immediately, I'm annoyed. But then I see the blood, and panic sets in. A bit mucusy, but mostly bloody, and I freak out because I'm not sure which dog it came from. So I rush upstairs to check all the dogs to see if anyone is bleeding externally, only to discover that Cory not only has some serious discharge coming from his eyes, but also from his bum. EWW. I get past the initial gross factor and go into auto pilot - I assume it's Cory with the issue and I call the vet, I give him some probiotics, and then I get ready to leave. I had to leave at least for the day because I canceled on my landlord the day before, and I couldn't cancel again. Our wonderful neighbor keeps an eye on the dogs while I head out.

Of course, then I get to Burlington and Charlie promptly jumps out of the car and drags me into the back yard of my apartment and I discover that it is he who left the treasures downstairs.

At this point, I hit a wall. You know that point. You can't take any more stress. My capacity just overflowed and I came inside, sat down on my bed, and I cried and cried and cried. I'm moving on my own with no help, my parents are miles away, I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get rid of the furniture I'm not keeping, I have two sick dogs, a car with no air conditioning, I have been totally MIA from the apartment and thus not helping out my roommates and I felt totally awful about that, it was hot as all hell, and I have until Saturday to take care of everything that needs to be taken care of. I just couldn't take any more. I finally heard back from mom and she helped calm me down, but man... I was done. I hit that brick wall so hard I wasn't quite sure how to regain my footing. But I finally did, and I took a couple of car loads down to the new place and threw out a pile of junk. I was running on auto pilot, though. So I packed the car back up and Charlie and I were on our way home.

So now we're all in the living room attempting to stay cool. I'm a bit more calm than I was before, but I'm mostly nervous about the doggies now. Hopefully Charlie's issue is food, and not internal. But Cory... he's getting old. And he's not looking too good, and as the vet said earlier, "these older dogs tend to fall apart all at once, you know..." So I'm taking both Charlie and Cory to the vet tomorrow, and I'm crossing my fingers and praying that they're both OK and this is all minor - not only for their sake, but for mine as well. This has been a helluva couple of weeks what with losing Boots, too much chaos, and Charlie's icky issues.

I'm going to have a beer, play some video games, and not think about anything for awhile. Tomorrow is a new day, and a trip to the vet is the first thing on my to-do list. Let's hope the outcome is a happy one!

Sunday Funday

I was just relaxing on the couch when the next thing I know, I have all three dogs on the couch with me. CUDDDLEEFESSSTTTT!

The Groundhog Menance

Occasionally, I take my iPod with me when I go out and about - whether it's a drive or walk with my friends, to just everyday activities. Today, I was filming some things with the dogs, and while we were out in the fields Cory, once again, finds some poor innocent animal to chase after. But this time, it was... kind of large. A groundhog, to be exact. I happened to be filming at the time, and I get a little hysterical. I don't do well in situations like this!

I don't think I'll ever be able to get the image of Cory turning in circles with a groundhog clinging to his face and flying all around.

Anyway, I got a little bored and decided to edit it together for a mini movie. So for all you fellow Star Wars nerds out there, you'll definitely enjoy this.

Chaos

I think for the next two weeks my life will be chaos. And as I write this I'm watching a baby finch fly around our house - the little thing somehow ended up in our living room this morning and although both doors to the house are open, she can't quite figure out how to get out. And she won't let us near her to help her out - oivey!

Anyway, I just got back from spending a couple of days in Burly at my apartment - not the new one, the one I've had for the last two years. The 'rents are going on vacay, and I'm left trying to pack myself up. Which is totally fine - I've moved so many times in my life, this is routine by now. Anyway, I have to house sit/dog sit while they are gone, so the week I'm moving I have to head back and forth to watch the dogs/clean and pack up the apartment. To make my life easier, I've packed up my entire room in two days - holy cow! I took little Charles with me which was great because I had to chance to walk him around the "big city" AND I had the chance to socialize him with people. A ton of my friends were in and out to say hi to me and meet the doggie (I also have roommates, which is great) and everyone has been so, so sweet with him! They recognize immediately that he's a nervous little boy and they get right down on the ground with him, and the next thing ya know he's on their lap and they won't leave him alone. It's so cute and he's loving all the attention! Thank goodness all my friends are animal people :)

Anyway, I get the keys to my new place next week which is VERY exciting! So I can't wait to start moving stuff in there! Such big changes, this is crazy...

Hope everyone is staying cool and enjoying this break in the heat.

R.I.P. Boots

I think we've lost another one of our cats :( Boots has been gone for just about 24 hours now, and that's really unlike him. He was such a loving, sweet boy. He loved to just lounge on your lap, and he and Charlie had a developed a very sweet friendship. Cory and Boots were quite the dynamic duo, too. And poor Zephyr... she was quite wary of him at first, but they became great pals. She's keeps looking at me and meowing. It's such bullshit - Boots was really, really young. We've only had him for a little over a year because we lost our other cat Gordo. It's all these male cats - they get so adventurous and wild... it just breaks my heart. I've still got a bit of hope left in me that he's on his own little trip and he'll be back... but, I don't know.

Doggie Loveseat

Oh my goodness - look at these two!!!

A little tribute to my other dogs

This is just a little post giving some credit to my other two dogs, Cory and Minnie, for not only just being wonderful, but also for being so good with Charlie. They are such wonderful dogs.

Minnie is our eldest - and has the silliest story behind her arrival into our household. Mom purchased her from a local pet store in Hawaii when we used to live out there - she bought him in a bit of a panic because she was on her way home to tell me that there was no Santa Claus. She had heard from a teacher that after the students in class talked about the story of Santa that my response was: "No, Santa is real because my parents would never lie to me." And thus, we have Minnie, our little Miniature Pinscher. We've had her since I was in the third grade, and now I'm 23. She's very old, she's almost completely deaf, her sight is going (ugh, I heard her run into a wall last night when she was trying to get out of my room in the dark... poor thing, we're getting a night light for the hallway for her), and I'm pretty certain she's on her last leg due to a number of health issues we've noticed as of late. She has been so sweet with this young dog - who has taken quite a liking to her. Charlie always tries to play with Minnie, though unfortunately she's just too old to do that anymore. But she likes to sleep near Charlie, and she tends to try to share food with him (which Charlie definitely does not like, but I think it's kind of a cute gesture). If he's sleeping on his bed, she tends to join him on there, and Charlie gladly welcomes the company. He's also been very good about giving up the entire bed to her - she likes to sleep on the bed when he's not on it, and he just looks at her (even if there's enough room) and just lies down next to it instead. She's currently sleeping near my feet, and I'm really glad I get to spend so much time with her this summer, because I don't think she'll be here next summer. As mom said tonight, "she's never been a little dog - she's always been a very brave, big courageous dog. She's a tough, take-no-shit kind of lady."

Cory is our extremely sweet goofy lab. He's about seven, so he's got some time left, but he's starting to age around the face, and he's quieted down a bit in the last year or so. He's such a love of a dog. The cats always cuddle with him, he and Minnie sleep and snuggle all the time, and he take such good care of his family. He has taken little Charlie under his wing to show him how to be a dog - since Charlie didn't quite know how to act around other dogs. He was always engaged, but he never participated. Now, he's always trotting alongside Cory, he follows Cory if he's exploring something, if Cory starts barking Charlie will follow suit... And Cory has been such a sweet dog to me as well. I'll go ahead and admit: I have a terrible fear of the dark, particularly out here in the middle of nowhere. I'm mostly scared that I'm going to run into an animal I don't want to run in to. Anyway, when I had to take Charlie out very late at night, Cory would hear me get up (even if he were in my parents room) and would come outside with us even if he didn't need to. He would walk right alongside me, not leaving my side. It was so sweet and touching.

Well that's all. They're such good dogs. All of 'em.

Mommy mommy mommy!

We have a treadmill in our basement (it's sort of been turned into a little workout area). I was just down there going for a jog, and I was down there for, oh, about 40 minutes or so. I had my headphones on so I couldn't hear anything going on upstairs. I rounded the corner to head up the stairs only to see little Charlie just lying down right at the top of the stairs - staring intently down them, his little paws just barely hanging over the edge of the top step, just waiting for me. It was so cute. I've been working on training to only come to the basement when invited (otherwise he tends to get into the recycling, the garbage.. not to mention that he seems to think it's an appropriate place to go to the bathroom when we're not around!)

I tried to sneak down earlier without Charlie noticing (he was sound asleep on the floor), but apparently (according to mom) he woke right up when heard me head downstairs.

He's now currently right at my feet :)

Feel Good Moment(s) of the Day

Here are a few photos I snapped today while watching the House marathon in the living room with the doggies :)




Cuddles

Canine tooth fairy?

Charlie lost his last baby tooth this morning! He had a baby tooth that never fell out, and the vet noticed it was a bit wiggly... so she instructed me to wiggle it just a bit whenever he was asleep, and hopefully it would fall out on its own (otherwise he would eventually need surgery!)

And this morning when I gave him his meds, I heard a little whine and saw something fall out of his mouth - I assumed it was the pill but when I looked down I saw his itty bitty baby tooth!

He's officially not a pup anymore :-P I'm so glad - this will help keep his little teeth nice and clean on that side now - it was collecting some nasty plaque!

We've got a green light & a guard dog, people

GREAT NEWS!

I think this antibiotic has finally given Charlie exactly what he needs. His appetite has finally reached that of a growing pup (he was SO excited for dinner tonight, oh my goodness!), he was eating WHILE standing up (which we have not seen him do yet), AND his bowel system seems to be functioning completely normally.

HALLELUJAH!

The vet did say we would see a difference by today, and thank goodness that we are. I'm going to pray that it holds, and that we don't have anything backfire (no pun intended).

On another note, Charlie met the new landlord today. Man - I didn't see this coming. So, we got there a little early and I took Charlie for a little walkaround so he could smell the smells, and see the scenery. Various people walked by, some with dogs - and we had no real issues. He was definitely wary of everyone else, but he didn't make a peep. So then, when the landlord came bustling around the corner and heading straight towards me, Charlie ran from behind me to right in front of me and began barking like I've never heard him bark! And he wouldn't stop! So I handed the landlord a biscuit, and Charlie quieted down a little... but not much. So I began to follow the landlord and in the house and Charlie pushed me right aside and walked in front of me - and for the remainder of my visit Charlie stepped right in between the landlord and I, or walked in between us - it was very sweet. My little guard doggie :)

Fast track to health!

This post will be short because I'm exhausted and have to get up early tomorrow - the new landlord wants to meet el puppy so I want to get up bright and early and make sure the pup is in working order to go for a little road trip!

Yesterday, the 'rents gave me an opportunity to sleep in the late afternoon (as I had barely gotten any the two previous nights..) and took care of Charlie for awhile. It's so sweet - they both are acting like grandparents, because well... they're getting older, and this is most likely going to be the closest they get to a grandson. Though we can certainly hope for otherwise! But they're taking the opportunity now to be the doting grandparents, and the helpful sidekicks for me. It's a Godsend. Anyway, they had to take him out several times during the course of my three hour nap (THREE hours! goodness). Mom made the executive decision that we were going to put piddle pads out for him near the doorway (we have to use these for our oldest dog, Minnie, because she's 14 and doesn't always make it out the door, poor thing) because he seems to use these when we don't take him out soon enough sometimes, and because we all needed a solid nights sleep. In the morning he had gone all over them, the poor thing.

So I called the vet first thing - and Charlie is now on a very impressive antibiotic/dewormer/intestinal-sedative. The vet is concerned that there might be little bugs in his system that aren't necessarily worms that might be disrupting his system; it will also aid in any final deworming that needs to take place; and it will calm down his digestive system to aid in digestion and reduce cramps!

So we're hoping that this will help fix him up - he's still on the bland diet but his appetite has improved greatly - he was barely finishing 3/4 of a cup of rice and yogurt, but today he was quite excited for his 1 cup meals! Such a good sign :)

So now I'm crossing my fingers for a good night sleep and a healthy pup. Good night, y'all :)

Coffee Coffee Coffee

As I write this I am gulping down coffee like it's the elixir of life. Charlie and I had such a long night last night, I feel as though it was surreal.

Mom and I took him out at about 11 last night, just before we went to bed, and he had a lovely solid little poop. Who knew that my world would begin revolving around when my dog would poop?

I couldn't quite settle down, but I attempted to put the both of us to bed. And at about 12:45 he had to go out - and his diarrhea struck again! I was very concerned, but I was hoping it wasn't going to be a long night.

Not only did he have to go out just about every hour, like clockwork, but I also couldn't go to sleep because my nerves were so wired. And several things occurred the remainder of the night...

At about 3:30 when I took him out I dropped the flashlight into a hole that Cory has dug beneath our porch - and I couldn't reach it. Then I was really startled by a very large toad hopping around my mom's garden, which was quite unpleasant. It was so misty I couldn't see anything. Then we got back inside, and I had turned the light off, something in my gut told me to turn the light on and look at him. And when I did I saw a nasty tick crawling on his hind leg! I HATE TICKS. They are so disgusting - so I grabbed it with a piece of cardboard that was in the trash, and I squished it with all my might.. and of course it didn't die, because the only thing that will kill a damn tick is flushing him down a toilet. So I raced into the bathroom and threw that dirty thing in the toilet and flushed - and of course, it didn't go down and it was just swimming around taking a little bath. It finally went down, and then I woke my poor mother up to check my hair and skin to see if I had one crawling on me. I also gave the doggie a full body check. I felt like my skin was crawling!

I still couldn't get to sleep, but then at about 5 I drifted off - only to be awoken about ten minutes later by Charlie. I took the poor thing out again - and in the process I walked into a massive spiderweb under one of our trees. And then as we were walking back into the house I noticed that he got some poop on his leg! So I had to wash it all off with the hose - which he hated. Which I hated.

I finally got to sleep around 6:30AM.

What a night. If he doesn't clear up by tonight, I think we're going to have to take another trip to the vet... :-/

Long night

Well, Charlie and I had quite a night. He had to go out at 2, and again at 3:30, and then he didn't make it outside and went in the house :(

He was getting extremely good at walking around without a leash - all three of us (mom, dad, myself) and our older dog Cory (whom Charlie is taking many tips from, it's wonderful!) would take him out and we'd all keep a very close watch on him as he began to learn to just stay right near us, and he was getting very good at going to the bathroom in the fields like the rest of our dogs.

So last night I couldn't find his longer leash, so I thought, well... let's try this. And he was very good - he went right out to the edge of our yard and the field and did his business... and then he decided to go on a reconnaissance tour of our fields! AT 2 IN THE MORNING. I called and called and that husky heritage of his kicked in and he looked me dead in the eye and turned right around and walked away from me. Naughty boy. I knew he was just fine but I got my mother to help me out anyway - mostly because I'm terrified of walking through our fields anytime after dark. It's a silly fear because we're so safe out here, I just can't stand it.

So, with a flashlight we went down and got him - but that little boy thought we were playing. It wasn't until I got quite stern (I felt like such a mom yelling his full name at him) and had to yell that he actually stopped and sat down.

So then we get him back up with us and I leash him with our extra leash and THEN we noticed that CORY had gone wandering out into the fields chasing after some small animal - and at that point the only thing that brings him back is starting the car. Which we did and he came racing back, tail wagging, very excited. These DOGS.

You can train them as much as you want, but you can't erase instinct and when a retriever spots an animal on their turf, they're going to chase it off their turf whether you like it or not sometimes. C'est la vie. At least Cory is trained enough to know where the edge of our fields are and he chased it right up to the edge of the line and just stood their barking at it.

Anyway, THEN I couldn't get back to sleep, and at about 3:30 Charlie whimpered to go out again. But when I took him out, he got none of his business done because the cats were sleeping on our driveway and he loves those cats and wanted to play, to which they looked at me like "Mom, can't you see we're sleeping?". And then it started to rain - big, fat raindrops. And I thought, "Well this is fabulous, jussst fabulous!" But Charlie's response was quite different - I've never seen a dog react like this to rain. He hunkered down close to the ground, and started yanking on the leash toward the front door, and when we got there he sat so close to that door I could barely open it. It was so heartbreaking to see - I can only assume that being in the rain probably brings back some horrible memories of abandonment. So he was quite uncomfortable when we got in the house and I just let him stay close to Cory and I and all three of us slept in my room. When I woke up in the morning, he was up on my bed snuggling with me and Cory was next to us on the floor. It was a sweet way to wake up with my boys.

Now I just have to hope that tonight is not a repeat of last night as I am getting quite exhausted! Such is the life of a pet owner.

New apartment!

YES!

The apartment gods worked in my favor this week and I have secured a very adorable apartment just two blocks down from where I lived this past year. The landlord is a peach of a fellow and owns a golden lab himself. I'm taking Charles over to meet him sometime this upcoming week, depending on how he's feeling.

It's relatively small - it's basically a studio with a one bedroom, but it will be all mine, and it has lots of light, and it's recently renovated and my neighbors have dogs as well. There's also a fantastic wrap around porch and I'm neighbors with two of my best friends! It's going to be fantastic.

Now I need to start working on a color scheme... I can't wait for little Charlie to see it! It's perfect for us.

The worm strikes again...

Fie! About midnight last night Charlie was whining to go out, and BAM he was hit with a terrible attack of intestinal chaos again. About every hour last night I had to take the poor pup out. He was perky, though! Verryyy excited to head outside for a few minutes. By this morning he was conked out next to me on the bed... which I was quite grateful for because he needed sleep, and, quite frankly, I was a bit cold last night and needed a heater :)

Called the vet and we're starting him with his second round of Panacur and we'll be putting him back on probiotics for a full month!

I think I'm just going to start him on a home cooked diet for the remainder of, well, his life. For now he'll just be a bland diet with the probiotics to get his little system back in working order, and then after that I'll introduce the proper foods for a home cooked diet (i.e. organs, cooked veggies, calcium, fish, all that yummy stuff!) I think it will help him out, and at the end of the day I want him to feel a little spoiled :)

This poor little pup, I want him back in working order! Damn you worms!

Heat Waaaave

IT'S.SO.HOT.

I'm sure everyone knows this, is saying this, is thinking this. But seriously, it really is. These heat indexes are just unbearable, and there is no wind.

And I was just reading today that over in Burlington this heat and lack of wind is causing some algae to grow and blossom at an exponential rate - this is not only bad for people to swim in (remember two years ago when everyone broke out in nasty rashes from swimming in Lake Champlain?), but also fatally toxic to dogs. About ten years a little over ten dogs died from swimming in water where this algae blossomed.

But, we're keeping up our spirits over here in lil' ole Peacham. I was out with little Charlie today and mom and I noticed that some light and some life is starting to sparkle in his little eyes! It's so wonderful. He was outside just trotting so proudly around the lawn, rolling around on the grass, playing fetch, exploring the garden. We have a vent where warm air blows out from the dryer and walked up to it and just stood their cocking his head side to side trying to figure out what it was!

It's almost like he finally knows he's home. He used to have those sad, sad eyes, and now he seems so joyful and puppy like! It makes training awful hard, but it's all worthwhile and it's all so worth it. Just to see him go from a silent, tired, listliss dog to a happy, curious pup is amazing! I did some research as well to determine his breed(s) and I am almost positive he is part husky part lab (well, we knew he was part lab). So he's very independent like a husky (and has those lighter stripes around his neck and shoulders that a husky would, as well as thicker fur and the curled tail) and a lover like a lab (and he's slowly becoming more curious and friendly, too).

Even just now he was racing around the house with his little kong and then his rope. I went downstairs to feed to my rats (we have to keep them down there in this heat - it's just too hot upstairs for those poor sweethearts) and Charlie raced down there after me and proceeded to RUN all over the place, and jump on and off the couch. He did that dog "LET'S PLAY LET'S PLAY!" thing where they get down on their front legs and jump whenever you move. It's so adorable - he's turning into quite the jumper, too!!


It's too hot mooommm! I needed to cool off...

BFFs

Our cats always come around to a new dog - they're always a bit put off at first, but that's totally to be expected!

Zephyr, the older of our two cats, has always had a very aloof attitude when it comes to the other animals - her nickname is "Miss Priss" and she kind of runs her own show. We absolutely love her for it.

Boots, on the other hand, is really bonding with Mister Charlie! The two of them are forming a very sweet friendship, and whenever Charlie sees Boots around he follows him and always tries to play or cuddle.

I snapped a few photos of the two just a few minutes ago. I was cooking some food up for Cory in the kitchen and I turned around to see Boots totally sprawled on the floor with Charlie right there with him. It's adorable!

Happy Fourth!

My friend Andy brought Charlie up to Vermont when he picked up his own pup, Truman, from Golden Huggs. Those two boys have been together since they were first rescued, so they definitely bonded.

Andy called up the morning of the Fourth to see what our plans were, and he and Nathaniel decided to come over for our BBQ and to reunite Truman and Charlie.

I wish I had recorded their first reunion - it was the sweetest thing in the world. I took Charlie outside, and he and Truman locked eyes and it was like a slo-mo scene in a movie - they galloped toward each other and collided and immediately clacked teeth and started playing. They chased each other around the yard all evening - and they wouldn't leave each other's sides! It was adorable. They were such happy pups!

Here are just a few photos of the two boys - along with a couple of the most amazing sunset. Happy Fourth indeed :-)


You have the kong... no, no you have the kong... no, I insist, the kong is yours...


Uncle, Uncle!!


Kisses!


In unison...

Cuteness

Baby's First Fourth

Our neighbors are celebrating Fourth of July a little early and setting off some fireworks. I took Charlie out on the shorter leash so that I could keep him close to me in case they made him antsy.

Not only did they make him antsy, but he went into some serious anxiety - tail curled between his legs, walking low the ground, pulling harshly on the leash to get away from the noise. I just sat there and held him for awhile as I tried to calm him down. Then I attempted to walk around a bit to see if he would realize that he's safe and it's OK. Mom was there with us and she was extremely helpful as well, but he wouldn't budge. So I carried the baby back pretty close to the house - though it was tough to carry a 30 pound dog in from the fields. So I put him down, also at the suggestion of my mother, and he high-tailed right onto the porch and sat down in front of the door.

It makes me sad to know that noises like that frightened him as much as they did - God only knows what sorts of things he experienced to make him respond like that. We were talking with the vet earlier, and mom asked, "Well, and maybe we don't know, but do you think they remember? Y'know, the bad stuff?" And without hesitation, the vet responded, "absolutely." And I'm sure he'll have moments, such as tonight, where he has a panic attack and falls back into his former life. But I also know he's beginning to have moments of clarity - moments where he realizes that he's safe and loved now. And I am so, so grateful that he knows that our house is safe and that he knows that's where he should be.

Now he's following me very, very closely around the house. This also makes me grateful - he's realizing that I will keep him safe, and that I'm his person. I was just in the kitchen cleaning up the leftovers from dinner and I look down to see Charlie sitting just a hair away from me, staring intently outside. It's such a strange array of emotions - I get teary eyed for so many reasons: that he was treated so fucking poorly, but that I also get the chance to give him a new life, and that he's already turning into a new, happy, playful dog. It sounds so cheesy that I get weepy over this, but I can't help it. A friend of my categorized me pretty well the other day: not so rational but very emotional - and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I have a lot of work ahead of me, but it's a blessing that I get to do this for this dog. And it's a blessing because he makes me so happy and full.

Holy Parasites!

As with most rescue dogs, new owners typically face a multitude of health concerns that need to be addressed. Turns out little Charlie didn't just have nerves that he was dealing with, but he was facing a horrible case of hookworm and possibly whip worm!

NASTY.

No wonder he's been so sick - I had a feeling it might be something like that, but was definitely not expecting hookworm.

So now he's on a lovely array of medications - he got this amazing "Revolution" treatment. Anyone who's a dog owner needs to be using this, if you aren't already. It treats heartworm, flea, tick, and an array of skin parasites with just one application (I should be their PR rep).

And he's also going to be given a pro-biotic for the next week, along with a 2 week deworming treatment!

So my little pup should be feeling like a brand new dog in just a couple of days :)

Feel good moment of the day...

Some more photos of Charles and I cuddling. He's such a lap dog :)

Charlie I need to get up...

...but how could you stop cuddling with a dog like this? Look at that precious, handsome face!