Dogs (mostly)

  • Allergy Boy

    Last year, Mulder appeared to come down with allergies.  He was losing hair at an alarming rate, and was very itchy.  His fur felt dry and brittle.  He has an undercoat, which is what he was losing, so you couldn’t really TELL that he was losing hair, except that the evidence was all over our house, we could see tufts of hair fly behind him when he walked, our clothes were covered with it, etc.  His armpits went bald.  It was worrisome, and when he was at the vet, she said it was not uncommon for dogs to develop allergies at about age 3. So, we tried giving him Benadryl,…

  • Happy Birthday Puppy Boy!

    Mulder is 4 years old today! Happy Birthday Puppy Boy! We took him for a nice long walk, and I gave him a piece of bacon this morning. Ted just brushed his teeth and he had a carrot (his reward for teeth brushing or fur brushing), and later I am going to bake him some homemade peanut butter dog cookies. In case you are ever so inclined, here is the recipe. I once made him some from an Ina Garten recipe, but he likes these just as much, and they are fewer ingredients and easier to make, so I’ll go with these. Someone from the dog rescue where we got…

  • #OCYDD – Criticize that dog!

    Ted has declared today ‘Official Criticize Your Dog Day’. Most of the time we fawn all over them, but truly, sometimes they are a pain in the butt. Today, in observance of OCYDD, I will criticize Mulder for the following: 1. Chasing a cat while I had the handle to his leash wrapped around my wrist, pulling me HARD into the gate around our pool. I have a stupid bruise to show for it. 2. Waking us up at 2:30 this morning to yell about the newspaper being delivered, JUST LIKE IT IS EVERY DAY. 3. Licking himself too much, so that he ingests too much hair, gags on it,…

  • Mulder Monday

    Hi Everyone, my name is Mulder! My Medium-Boss said I could be a guest blogger today. Fun! I’ve lived with my Big-Boss, Medium-Boss, and Little-Boss for almost 2 years now. It’s hard to believe, but some people say, “Time Flies”. I’m not sure what they mean. I love my bosses, and I love my life. Yesterday, Medium-Boss took me on a walk that was very interesting. Lately, we’ve been going to a wonderful place called ‘Heather Farm’. It’s wonderful because there are so many interesting smells, and also interesting animals. Medium-Boss saw a turtle there once, and Big-Bosses sister said she saw an otter. There are a lot of birds,…

  • Friday Randomness (on Saturday)

    Maybe I should say something about the election that’s coming up, but I can’t.  I’m sick of the whole thing.  I wish that Clinton had a more worthy adversary.  I want her to win, but I’d rather it be on her own merits, not because her opponent is such an asshole. We went to Portland a couple of weeks ago for a ‘drive by visit’.  Maya is in school, Ted and I don’t have a lot of vacation time saved up, so we flew up Friday night, spent Saturday with family, flew home Sunday morning.  My sister got married back in March, a VERY small ceremony, and this was the…

  • Throwback Thursday

    Not much of a throwback, admittedly. This is Mulder on Christmas Eve, trying to be a good boy and waiting for Santa. We live in a townhouse, and have a teeny tiny living room, so this is the tree that fits.  It’s built for an entryway, is very small and thin.   It’s perfect for us.  Though maybe we need a new one next year, as some of the pre-set lights are out.  Or maybe we’ll just get some new lights.  I tried at the after Christmas sales, but I couldn’t find any.

  • Happy New Year – Friday Randomness

    Hey There Party People, what’s shakin’? December was a good combination of busy and lazy, and somehow in amongst the lazy I did not post even once. That’s pathetic. In line with catching you up a bit, life here has been good, not crazy, not too different than it was before. We’ve had another month with dog-boy, Mulder, and he’s settling in so very well. We all adore him so much. He’s playful and loving and wonderful. He’s learning a bit of manners, learning to walk better on a leash, etc. He doesn’t jump on the furniture as much anymore. He doesn’t bark nearly as much anymore. He’s only vomited…

  • Puppy Love

    I am most happy to introduce you to our new teen-puppy, Mulder! Mulder is 7 1/2 months old Keeshond teen-puppy.  Teen-puppy is my term for his age, because he’s almost fully grown (30ish lbs now), but still a puppy in so many ways. Our sweet girl Genevieve was 1/2 kees/1/2 Sheltie. We got her from a local Keeshonden rescue back in 2002, when she was 4. She was such a good dog, and when she died in early 2012 (can you believe it’s been that long?), we were heartbroken. As time went by, we eventually decided we were ready to open our hearts and our home to another dog. We thought…

  • Dog in a Dress

    This is Samantha, my sweet puppy, lurking through the window of our house in Fairbanks, Alaska. She used to sit on top of her dog house and try to guilt us into letting her in the house, which didn’t happen on too regular of a basis, as she was an outdoor dog, and if you keep your dog in the house in Alaska, they don’t grow all of the fat and fur that they need to survive in sub-zero weather. If it were today, I would do it differently. I think dogs are happier in the den with the pack, and I think the pack is happier with the dog…

  • Día de los Muertos

    Today is The Day of the Dead, otherwise known as Día de los Muertos.  It is a day to remember and pray for beloved family and friends who have died.  I thought maybe I’d slow down and reflect on some loved ones who are gone. First, of course, is my mom.  It’s been 4 1/2 years since she died, and of course, I still miss her every day.  I miss our long conversations, and I wish she were still here.  I don’t miss her being sick, and all of the stress that that gave me.  Mostly, I think about all of the things that she’s missing by not being here. …

  • Dreaded Day

    The dreaded day came and went this week. Gen’s medical conditions got the better of her, and we decided that we didn’t want to keep fixing one thing to just have another pop up. So we put her to sleep on Monday afternoon. We miss her sweet face SO MUCH. She was such a good girl, and we love her so much, and we’re so sad. But we know that she’s not suffering now, and that making sure she didn’t suffer was our responsibility. Damn it. I keep thinking, I want my dog back. But when I think that, I don’t mean the dog that paced the house for hours…

  • Loving Your Aging Dog

    There’s no two ways about it…Genevieve is an old lady. She takes 8 pills a day to keep her from having diarrhea, which sometimes works. She take 1 pill a day to help keep her from peeing uncontrollably. She takes 1 pill a day to help her appetite and cognitive function. She’s blind. She doesn’t leave the house anymore, except to go in the back yard to do her business. We take her out front sometimes, but after 2 1/2 years of being blind, I think it’s scary for her. I can’t leave her in the back yard, because she might get stuck behind the air conditioner unit or tangled…

  • Friday Randomness

    Nothing earth shattering today, so we’ll dive on in, OK?  Just a bunch of randomness that’s been swimming through my brain a bit. We’re trying Genevieve on a new drug.  She had stopped eating, which had us really concerned.  Or, to be more accurate, her eating was very sporadic and unpredictable.  She didn’t want her kibble, so I started making her some homemade food.  She liked that for awhile, but then seemed to tire of it.  We’d try to hand feed her, and she’d just turn her head away.  She was always happy to eat dog treats, cheerios with milk, that kind of thing, but not regular dog food.  She…