Surgery Vigil
I’m headed out soon to sit vigil during my sister’s mastectomy. If you could throw a spare good thought our way today, the girls of Champion of My Heart would much appreciate it. …
-
-
Snake Update
On our walk up to the road to get today’s mail, we spotted our bridge snake friend sunning himself on the rocks. Neither Lilly or Ginko noticed him because we were playing fetch on our way out. On the way back, I told Ginko it was dinnertime, and I asked Lilly to SIDE (which means cross in front of me and move to the other heel side). Once we got both pups in the house, happily eating dinner, Tom went back out to see if the bull snake seemed OK, after Lilly winged him into the pasture on …
-
Sunday Snake Encounter
You will NOT believe what Lilly did Sunday. We headed out for our usual 3-mile walk, and as habit dictates, Lilly ran to the edge of our bridge to “look” at the snakes who live in the rocks. We’ve had big bull snakes living in there forever, and Lilly likes to look at them, sniff them, etc. Sure … sometimes, she gets excited and barks at them, but usually it’s an amicable-enough thing.
… -
Weekly Training Update (July 31)
We haven’t had much time for formal training lately, but Lilly and I caught up with Tom at a motorcycle swap meet Sunday morning as a little outing. Lilly did really well. …
-
Coping Strategies
Again, you have my apologies for the missing posts and general absence lately. I’ve been thinking a lot about how best to handle stress and worry when it comes in relentless waves for months on end. (My childhood friend’s mom died very soon after a cancer diagnosis. My mom fell again this week. My sis meets with the surgeon Friday.) This being a grown-up thing is often for the birds. So, should you find yourself mired in non-stop drama of any variety, here is my best coping advice. …
-
Weekly Training Update (July 10)
With medical dramas — human and canine alike — coming at me from all directions these days, I feel woefully behind on our training updates from our new behavior modification plan to continue counter-conditioning Lilly’s fears and retraining a few scenarios where she ramps up her nerves. Here is a recap that I hope does some justice to our efforts so far. …
-
-
With Rain Comes Wildflowers
The daily rain this spring and summer makes the wildflowers pop out like crazy. Even neighbors who have lived in the valley much longer than we have say it’s the most rain they’ve ever seen. And, the flowers? Well, see for yourself. …
-
Paraglider Sails Above Our Valley
Last week, we had an aerial visitor sweep through the valley and cause a flurry of barking dogs. Maybe the person riding waves of warm air looked like a large predator from above. Once when Lilly and I were having lunch down in town, one such paraglider swooped overhead and landed close by. Lilly flipped out. …
-
Ginko @ Home
Ginko is HOME!!!! We may never know why he was vomiting so much. Tom only got to talk to the doc for a few minutes, so I don’t have much info, but It seems that since the bloodwork was clean, then we’re not looking at pancreatitis. He’ll be on antibiotics for a few more days since he did have a fever and did have a slightly elevated white cell count. He also will take some pepcid each morning (we’ve learned it’s a better/safer choice than pepto for vomiting) for a few days. Ginko is only allowed tiny spoonfuls of special …