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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. …
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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. …
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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 …
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Ginko @ Hospital, Part 2
I’m still waiting for adequate information on Ginko’s health status. The best I’ve gotten so far is that he’s doing “OK” or “fine” and that his bloodwork was “good.” I’m trying VERY hard to be patient and NOT freak out from worry, but I still have major crying jags when things get to be too much … because I’m the kind of girl who needs details not only on his medical status but his emotional one as well. …
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Quotes from Novel Gilead I Like
I finished reading the novel Gilead by Marilynne Robinson this weekend. It’s a book about a dying minister, who is leaving a diary for his young son. While the context of these situations in the book are different, I found these excerpts amusing and applicable to my life with Lilly (and even the current medical drama with Ginko). …
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Ginko Hospitalized!
We are worried sick! Ginko has not kept any food down since about mid-day Tuesday. Between dinner Tuesday night and lunchtime today, he threw up 7+ times. At first, he could keep the food down for 2 hours, then 1 hour, then only 10 minutes. So, off to the veterinary hospital we went, and the doctor hospitalized him pronto. We don’t know for sure, but it sounds an awful lot like pancreatitis. …
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Emotional Roller Coaster
We’re thinking about the fear-recovery cycle in a different way after our follow-up behavior consult. While Lilly’s fear responses are smaller than a year ago, we’ll be working in the coming weeks and months on resetting her fear cycle frequently so that her emotional roller coaster never leaves to station. …
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Tend and Befriend Overcomes Fight or Flight
A shout out to my friend Audrey for sending me this research on how women handle stress differently than men. Apparently women “tend and befriend” to overcome feelings of “fight or flight.” …
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Weekly Training Update (June 26)
Last Saturday, we met with Jennie (our behaviorist) for a follow-up consult. We first saw her in summer 2008. I had hoped to check in earlier this year, but time and financial constraints made that impossible. So, we spent a year doing the behavior modification work that many people do in 2-3 months. We’re working on a new plan to take Lilly’s training to the next level — with an eye toward returning to agility training (and maybe possibly competing, even though we’d be the oldest novice team in history). I’ll be reporting on the various details in …
Author: Roxanne Hawn
Trained as a traditional journalist and based in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, USA, I'm a full-time freelance writer for magazines, websites, and private clients. My areas of specialty include everything in the lifestyles arena, including health and home, personal finance and other consumer interests, relationships and trends, people and business profiles ... and, of course, all things pet related.
I don't just love dogs. I need them in my life. Seriously.