dog

Not Cool, Mom!

Sketch of Cairn terrier dog.

Seriously, you chose this picture?!?

When Geordie saw the picture of Toby I posted on the blog, he insisted that I put a picture of him up next.  For some reason he is unhappy about this one.

This is a draft of one of the pictures in his (and Toby’s.  Don’t tell him Toby is in the book too) next book.  Although I have been working on it for a year, it feels like I am never going to get done.

This book is filled with so many memories for me.  It has also been a great opportunity for me to learn more about working with digital media.  At the rate I am going, though, I will die of oldness long before I ever get done.

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To read some of Bitey and Toby’s already finished adventures, pick up a copy of Poopiter.

Bitey Dog and Toby in POOPITER

Poopiter is available at Amazon.  It would make a great Christmas gift for the dog lover in your life!

 

 

 

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How Do You Live With A Dog On Steroids?

A tired woman brushes her itchy dog at night.

Last week Geordie had an appointment with the vet, and she gave him steroids to help with the full-body itchies he gets at this time of year.  I thought this would be a great thing – my boy would finally stop nagging me because he was miserable and didn’t know what to do about it.  Maybe we could both get some sleep!

And yet, no.  Instead we have substituted one misery for another.  The steroids have given Geordie an appetite beyond belief.  He spends all day squeaking at me to give him  biscuits.  He’ll take kibble or table food, but he wants biscuits.  Milk Bones, Liva’ Snaps, Marrow Bones…it doesn’t matter.  He’ll eat them all.  Literally.

An unexpected side effect from Geordie’s steroids is that Toby is gaining weight.  Why?  Is he getting into Geordie’s meds?  No, but every time I feed Geordie, I need to give Toby something to preserve equity in the house.  Even if I only give Toby one piece of kibble, Geordie eats so often that my little Toby has turned into a butterball.  Today I made him go for a long walk around the neighborhood until he flopped down on the pavement in surrender.  We’re going to need a lot of those before the weight comes off.

Fat dog thinks angry thoughts.

Whatchoo talking’ ’bout?  I’m not fat!

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If the Bee Stings

A very sick little dog.

Is this the saddest little face or what?

My poor little boy had a rough weekend.  He started it out by stepping on a bee.  I watched him for symptoms like difficulty breathing, swelling, hives and excessive drooling, but he didn’t have any of these.  What I didn’t realize was the tiredness and soft poos he was having were signs of a reaction bad enough that he should see a vet.  (I was blaming the tiredness on Benedryl.)

Should your pup come out the loser in an encounter with a bee, first remove the stinger.  (The pup will not like this.)  Then put a baking soda paste on the wound.  (The pup will not like this.)  Apply ice to help with the pain.  (The pup will not like this).  Then give a Benedryl.  (The pup will really like this if you wrap it in peanut butter!)

Along with the Benedryl, I gave my boy some of the topical cortisone spray I keep on hand for his hot spots.  It isn’t as strong as what the vet would have given him, but it did seem to bring him a bit of relief.

Be safe around those bees this Summer!

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Flashback Friday

Can you find the puppy hidden in this picture?

Carn terrier puppy hiding under a chair.

When Bitey was little, this was his favorite hiding space…until he got too big and needed help getting back out.  Wasn’t he an adorable itty bitty beast?

In instances like these, I try to envision non-linear time.  What might it be like to have your little dog with you as a puppy and a senior and every step in between simultaneously?  I suppose we have that with memory, but to us the points of time don’t fall together but are strung apart.  I imagine that in the world beyond this one, time is non-linear.

I guess we won’t need Flashback Fridays then!   : – )

 

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Guess Where I Went?

To the museum!

Friends will know that I have been wanting to visit the museum for a very long time, and yesterday I finally did.  I wanted something by which to remember my trip, and I picked this little guy to come home with me.

Triceratops pendats from a visit to the museum.

A lot of the gifts in the gift shop were handmade by crafts persons in countries with struggling economies.  I thought this was a great partnership.  When I found this tiny hand carved triceratops made of tiger’s eye, I simply had to have him (or her).

Foolish me, I didn’t realize that there were different types of triceratops.  In movies, they always seem to look the same.  In reality the horns weren’t always spaced the same, and some had curved horns or narrow faces.  It was interesting to see the different types of skulls side by side.

I was only gone for a few hours, and when I got home I immediately grabbed my pups’ leashes and let them out of their kennels for a potty break.  Geordie refused to come and yelled at me that he was very angry at my stupidity!  Stupidity?  What did I do wrong?  Well, it turns out that the first thing he wanted was a drink, not to go outside.  Toby would simply have walked to the water bowl and had a drink before heading outside, but Geordie had to make a point of telling me how stupid I was.

I am glad terriers don’t come with horns.

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Watch Out, Peppermint!

 

Toby and new stuffed girlfriend looking off into the distance.Isn’t this cute?  The two of them are even starting to look like each other!

Watch out, Peppermint.  Someone new is after your man.

This is Toby’s new “girlfriend”.  You may recall from Poopiter that my boy has a particular fondness for his toy peppermint.  Now, though, there is a new lady in his life.  This little gal doesn’t have a name yet, but I think she needs one.  Any suggestions?

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I Got No Boots

Oh wait, yes I do!

Pair of boots sitting on grass.

I hope this picture looks decent.  I am using new photo editing, and the colors seem off on my monitor.

The first time I heard that Mini Cooper commercial, I mistakenly heard the singer say “I got no boots!”.  That prompted me to wonder if that was why she was driving all the time.  Later the song was on the radio and heard that she was really saying “I got no roots” and realized that I am now officially an old person with bad hearing.

I now got new boots because thanks to my awful beasties I wore out the soles on my last pair.  Thanks guys.  I hope that you both realize that these are sh** kickers, and they can be used to “motivate” recalcitrant pups on walks!  (JK)

 

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No Dignity When It’s Hot

Cairn terrier sleeping upside down in undignified pose.

I have seen pictures of “cat thermometers” where the more the kitty is stretched out, the hotter the temperature.  If you have a pup, the more absurd the sleeping position, the hotter it is.  As you can see, we clearly were having unreasonably warm weather this day.

The mercury in the window thermometer reached over 120 in the sun.  It is rare even in August for that to happen.

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Peek-a-Boo!

 

Peek-a-boo!

Aah, this is such a rare moment – Toby looking at the camera instead of away from it.  I must have taken a dozen shots with my uncooperative little guy beating the shutter every time.   I am thinking of starting a folder with just blurry, back of head shots.

Toby got shortchanged on baby pictures since things were so chaotic when he was young.  (It is nearly impossible to take pictures when you have a puppy with a UTI.) I am trying to make up for that a little by getting some nice photos now.

 

Boy's Navy and Copper Suspenders, handmade.

June brings with it a variety of formal events.  Make sure your young man is prepared to look his best with something from the Boys’ Shop at Needful Things of Salem.  With these Navy and Copper Brocade Silk Suspenders your youngster will be ready to conquer any social occasion.

 

 

 

 

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