A boy and his dog

My friend Steve's beloved golden retriever, Professor Jiggs, died in the wee hours of the morning today. He was a grand old dog of 13 years. He breathed his last lying next to his best pal and constant companion.

You can read Steve's tribute on his blog.

When Jiggs entered Steve's life in 1996 a transformation began. Steve, a fastidious and, some might say (but I never would), obsessive complusive neat-freak, saw his lifestyle markedly changed by that golden puppy. I think in many ways Steve's priorities shifted that day Jiggs entered his life. He became more carefree and more spontaneous. He may beg to differ, but this is what I saw - the before and after.

Isn't it amazing that dogs can impact our lives so? The motto of this blog is: Dogs are not are whole lives, but they make our lives whole. They truly do.

Rest in peace, Professor. You led a long and glorious life and brought many smiles to all of us. Find comfort in your memories, Steve. You always did right by Jiggs and gave him a life to be envied.

To everyone else...hug your dog today and say "thank you."

Snug as a bug

For the first time since Gracie's knee injury in April, she was able to sleep in bed with me last night. I woke up in the middle of the night in that familar "spoon" - Gracie's butt in my face and the rest of her long body stretched out along side mine. It made me smile.

When we first went to bed she laid quietly beside me for a few minutes and then jumped down. She was in the living room for several minutes and then wandered back into the bedroom with her Pig. With Pig in bed with us, all was perfect for a goodnight's sleep.

To catch a fly

Gracie is my fly-catcher. She excels at hunting down the intruder and making it pay for its misdirected flight into the house. It's one of the few activities that actually holds her attention for more than 10 minutes.

Several months ago, when Gracie first tore her ACL, we were at the vet's office in Portland waiting for the official verdict. Gracie, who was limited to three good legs, laid on the floor between my sister and me. My sister said "oh, a fly." Gracie was calmly looked up and as the fly zipped past her, she nipped it in mid-flight. Such is her proficiency in fly-catching.

There are some days when I purposely let a fly in the house, just to provide a challenge for Gracie. Gee, I hope the People for the Ethical Treatment of Flies don't find out.

Minto Dog is back!

For the second Sunday in a row, Gracie and I have enjoyed a short (and leashed) walked at the Minto Brown dog park. It feels good to be back at our old stomping grounds. There have been some changes since that fateful day in April - our last visit. The parking lot is bigger...much bigger. (However, it still irks me that bikers and runners use that lot for parking when there are two other perfectly fine parking lots for them to use.) A water sharing program seems to have been instituted. Several large jugs of water sit out on a picnic table for community use. A few years ago a thought group of high school kids build some wooden watering stations and positioned them around the walking path. The wooden structures held four or five gallon jugs of water and a couple of dishes. They were perfectly placed for the dogs to grab a drink. It was really nice on those warmer days. But the city, ever mindful of risk, liability and lawsuits, removed the watering stations. It's nice, though, that the city is allowing the water sharing to occur. Or, perhaps, they've simply grown weary of trying to leash the humans at the dog park!

It was a great Sunday walk at the park this morning. Gracie caught up on the park gossip and left a few messages of her own. Walking the length of the park seem to be just the right amount of activity for her. I think she'll have a great nap today.

The mother of all tantrums

Gracie threw a tantrum last night...one that would rival even the most determined two-year old.

It began shortly upon returning from our evening walk. I gave her a treat and then threw myself into the recliner. It had been a long day. It got longer. Immediately, Gracie started in wanting more food. She stood in front of me and barked. She barked an excited, happy bark. She barked a low, menacing bark. She gave me the woooo bark of impatience. She made as if to bite the couch cushions. She stamped her feet. (I'm not kidding!) I did my best to ignore her, even though I wanted to burst out laughing at her. She was serious. She ripped the ear off of Pig. Dead serious. In a final act of defiance she trotted down the hallway to the bedroom. I was close on her heels but not close enough. She had jumped up on the bed and was using one of the pillows in a way that it was not designed to be use.

I grabbed her leash and pulled her toward me. My plan was to reach around her waist and help her off the bed and then send her to a time out in her kennel. Her plan was to bite the hand that doesn't feed her. (Well...she actually bit my arm.) Nevertheless, she found herself standing in her kennel as I stomped back into the house.

After regaining my composure, and icing my arm for a bit, I brought her back inside. She was fine. She made a half-hearted attempt to get another treat. I said "no" and she laid down by my feet.

What was that?

A young Gracie destroying my book on how to raise lab puppies.

Snorting cat

Maybe it was the hot weather this week. Maybe it was from being cooped up with little activity for 3 months. Maybe it was withdrawls from stopping the sedative. Whatever the reason, Gracie started snorting cat this week.

It seemed harmless enough. Gracie was wound up, as she usually is in the evenings. She saw Mungo lying on the floor and bounced over to him. She buried her nose in his belly fur and took a big sniff. Next thing I know, she running around the living at top speed. You've seen dogs do this before...you know, when they tuck their butt and scoot around as fast as they can. I had her leash on her, but was not holding it. In an implusive act, I tried to step on the leash to stop her run. I was barefoot. I didn't stop her. Enough said.

The next night, she did the same thing. This time I was holding the leash, so I stopped her in mid butt tuck. I showed Gracie Dr. Gustafson's latest instructions: "High-speed, quick turns, jumping, and wrestling could result in joint sprain or damage to the mensicus."

For now, I'm keeping my eye on her. She hasn't snorted cat for a few days now. If she starts again, I'll have to see if the rehab clinic in Corvallis treats this type of addiction.

Contemplating a snort

Patient has improved clinically

Gracie and I saw Dr. Gustafson on Monday for the 8-week post operative Xrays. He said the bones were healing well, the implants were in good position and the patella was stable in the trochlear groove.

We left the office with a bounce in our step. Well...I did anyway. Poor Gracie had been sedated for the Xrays and was still a bit wobbly. We now continue with rehab and start increasing our walking time. I've added a 5 minute evening walk to our daily ritual. Dr. Moore, the vet rehab specialist in Corvallis recommends increasing the walking tiem by 5 minutes each week. Our goal is to walk 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening. Hills are now permited so we can extend our neighborhood strolls to the surrounding blocks.

I thanked Dr. G for his excellent surgical skills and care of Gracie and told him: "I hope we never see you again." He smiled and said, he felt the same.