Goodbye My Beloved Shadow

She has been an inspiration of strength and willpower.  Her determination has always been something I have admired time and time again.

She was our yellow lab that "came with the house".  She simply refused to go live anywhere else.  She chose us.  She willed us to love her, and love her we did.  We still do.

We taught her what it was like to be an indoor dog.  We taught her how to play, and to eat next to the other kids without being a glutton.  We taught her the joy of Christmas.  We taught her the meaning of family.  We taught her what it felt like to truly be loved.

May our beloved Shadow rest in peace and play with Abbytail in Heaven.  Godspeed my dear sweet beloved Shadow.

Shadow with her BFF, Beau the boxer

 

This is how I will remember Shadow.
Wiggling with all the delight a good back-wiggle can bring.

Sad Day

Today has been a sad day.  Our Mysterious Shadow has been feeling poorly all weekend.  We knew something important was up Saturday.  You know, since it was a holiday weekend and all.

We've been noticing small little "nuggets" for a little less than a week now.  It has been confusing us both as to what animal it was coming from.  We figured out pretty quickly that it's Shadow.  I knew she was incontinent and I was treating that, but I wondered if there was such a thing as fecal incontinence.  Well, there is.  And she has it.  It's really gross, and that's OK.  We can hose the sidewalks and patio off.  It's not a big deal.  She's always been an outdoor dog, so she's happy being outside.

I was confused as to how this could happen but it all became clear today when we took her to the vet.  Todd reminded me that she had been in a car wreck like 4 or 5 years ago.  A car had hit her, but the wonderfully responsible owners that she had didn't see it happen and thought she was fine because "she seemed fine".  Guess what?  She was not fine.  In fact, it fractured her pelvis, and it healed on her own.  It healed badly, and now that she is older, it has caused nerve damage in her tail and hind quarters, so to speak.  She can't wag her tail anymore.  She can't control her urine or her fecal waste.  On the x-ray, I saw how clogged up the poor girl is.  She simply can't "go" because she can't control the muscles.

That makes sense now as to why I have to coax her to eat.  I'm talking steak, chicken, pork.  I put broth on her food, and once she takes a drink of the liquid, it makes her hungry and then she eats.  But what goes in, is only coming out in tiny bits here and there.  She can't keep that up for long.

As long as she is continuing to smile, be active, and look happy, she'll be with us.  Once her back legs give out entirely, and she is no longer active and happy, it's going to be a really, really sad day.

I'm pissed off that this whole damn situation could have been avoided.  It could have been prevented if her pelvic fracture had been taken care of when it happened.  Can you imagine the pain she must have felt while it healed?  It breaks my heart.

She is such a good dog.  Really good dog.  I am so happy that we've chosen to make her last year the best one she has ever had, and the short term future will be as good as possible.  She deserves it.

Shadow in her favorite spot during a road trip

The Mysterious Shadow

Keystone & Shadow.  She fits right in.

Oh, Hi There!

Where has March gone?  Someone tell me, cause I just don't understand.

Here is a miscellaneous list of updates starting with the best news first.

Abby's test results came back and the "large" bump removed from her nose is benign!  Super yippee for our little girl.  I can't explain why I wasn't worried, but for some reason I knew it wasn't anything to get my panties in a wad.  Bonus: she looks completely normal (this picture was taken pre-surgery but she looks the same).

We took Shadow to the vet for her very first vet visit ever.  That would be like an 80-year little old lady going to the Dr. for the very first time.  The up side?  She had no reason to fear the place.  "What's this?  A new place with nice people who pet me, take my temp in my ear instead of up my bum (which she has never experienced)?  Great, count me in!"  She got her shots, a treat, and some love from some nice people.  I don't think she will hate going back next year.

Needless to say, we found a local vet I really like.  And the best part about it is that we live in a SMALL town.  The vet bills?  Are SMALL too.  Annual visits for 3 dogs and the bill was about $200?  Really?  I'm never ever moving again.  Ever.  Quote me on that.

Speaking of little old ladies, on our way back from the TPF (Texas Pinball Festival) last weekend, we stopped on the turnpike at McD's for a bite to eat (there was nothing else available).  The bathrooms were super busy.  I walk in and tell Todd my order then head towards the back and think "crud, this little old lady being escorted by a little old man 5 people ahead of me can't move very fast. Patience, I must exercise patience".  So what else can I do?  I slowly follow the crowd into the bathroom. 

It's not the worst bathroom I've been in, but it's not new by any means.  After a few minutes, it's just 2 young teenage girls in front of me, and I think finally, I'll get there. 

All of a sudden I hear "Help, I need help".  I look at the girls in front of me and think to myself "self, with the look of utter panic and bone-chilling fear on the faces of these young'uns, I'm the only game in town".  So I walk back there and say something like "can I help you, ma'am?" 

Turns out, this little old lady had this hip brace thing on that straps around her waist and around one leg (around her thigh).  On top of her pants.  And she had to pee but couldn't get it off.  She HAD TO PEE.  So I wrestle (gently) around with the contraption, figure out how to get the leg brace unlocked, but unfortunately, she asked for help a little too late.  She said "I'm afraid I peed my pants" and she sure did (although I didn't feel anything through her clothes).  I felt so sorry for this poor little old lady who was obviously embarrassed by her predicament.  I helped her down onto the toilet. 

She told me her hubby needs to get her some clean undies.  I go out to see if I can find the little old man who had hobbled along with her to the bathroom door, and I don't see him.  Fortunately another lady (good-Samaritan #2) realized what was going on and told me that she would find him and get the undies.

So I go back in.  Did I mention I had to pee?  So I go real fast in the stall next to the little old lady, and I yell over that I'm right there, don't worry.  I text Todd so he doesn't think there is some Texas Chainsaw Massacre happening in the women's bathroom, and then I come out of my stall.  I was shocked to open my door and see her standing there butt naked from the waist down.  Cause she had peed herself.  She said "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." to which I said it's OK.  She said that she's diabetic and that doesn't help the situation.  I told her it will all be OK, let me go see what's holding up the panties.  I go out and I see a family of PEOPLE looking through bags in a car.  THERE ARE OBVIOUSLY NO CLEAN PANTIES BECAUSE NOBODY IS WALKING BACK IN.  But then this teenage girl starts walking back to grandma.  Or great-grandma.  I ask good-Samaritan #2 what the status of the undies are and she said the girl is a relative. 

SERIOUSLY?  THERE IS A FEMALE RELATIVE AND SHE DIDN'T HELP HER OWN GRANDMOTHER?  WTF IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?  Old people do not have cooties.  The "old" isn't contagious.  It may be inevitable if you're lucky, but it isn't contagious.  It's not UNCOOL to be seen helping your elderly relative--it's called BEING A HUMAN BEING.

I thought about it for a split second, and I thought if this teenage girl is this helpless, that elderly lady may need more help, I want to make sure she is OK.  So I went back to grandma and asked "Is that girl a relative, are you OK now?" and she said "oh yes, thank you so much".  I tell her to take care.  I am now excused.

POINT OF MY STORY:  I'm going to be old some day.  I hope to God I don't pee my pants in a dagnabit McD's of all places.  But I hope and pray that your granddaughters will be kind enough to help me in my hour of need.  I am confident anyone reading my blog will raise women responsible enough to help an elderly senior citizen.  I promise, I wont have cooties.
   
I'll update you on TPF from last weekend soon, complete with pics. A real good time was had by all...  However it did take me a couple of nights to stop worrying about that little old lady.

I gave blood last Friday!  I'm really happy I did it.  I am beginning to recognize the regular phlebotomists.  It's the same group who comes to my place of work to collect blood every 2 months.  It was absolutely painless (well, a tiny sting, but it was nothing, really) and I have no bruise.  Totally worth saving up to 3 lives.

I spent yesterday planting plants and doing yard work.  YOU GUYS, it did NOT require a devil's fork and crow bar, there was NO SAND, I only encountered 2 small dinky pebbles, NO boulders, PLENTY of earth worms, and I got to play in DIRT.  REAL DIRT.  You have no idea how completely giddy I was after planting 8 clumps of maiden grass in just a few hours (NOT DAYS).  I am so happy to be back in farm country again.  My nails wont be clean until October.  And I'm happy about it!

Here is the grass I planted (there had been 3 established clumps, now there is a total of 11 clumps):

Also planted yesterday were: onions, potatoes, and asparagus.  Today the blackberry and raspberries were planted. 

April, bring on the rain!

Happy 9th Birthday!

Our kids turned NINE YEARS OLD yesterday!  In celebration, I broke out the ol' Three Dog Bakery cook book and whipped up a masterpiece.  I love baking for my kids.  They somehow instinctively KNOW I am baking Just. For. Them.  It's rather odd how they know.  Maybe it's the way I look at them while I'm twirling about the kitchen, grabbing the bananas, or the wheat flour, or the yummy peanut butter.  Oh, they know what's in a peanut butter jar, trust me.  Nothing but love.

This year, I substituted molasses for honey, and I had no eggs.  So I substituted an extra banana and a little more baking powder for the missing egg.  Worked like a charm--thanks for the tip, Internet.  They never noticed a difference.

See my masterpiece here:

I know this looks like a backwards G, but I wanted to maximize the use of cake.  The children agreed with my approach.  Also, I wasn't going to frost the sides because that gets really messy.  So I stuck dried banana chips to the edge with frosting.  They agreed with this use of banana chips too.

Notice their tongues as they impatiently await their birthday cake.

This is not their first rodeo:

After the cake feast, these pics remind me of coming off a sugar high (except the only sugar was molasses). 

Here is Shadow (and this was her first rodeo birthday party):

Here is Abbytail:

And here is Keystone:  

Go here to watch the feast:

Video of the cake inhalation

A special Happy Birthday to my God-dog-son Baxter, who I miss.  We send lots of hugs, kisses and love to this special guy on his special day too.

Happy Birthday to my furry 9 year olds!

Mrs. T, Can Shadow Come Out & Play?

You know how we inherited this wonderful fur bag named Shadow "with the house".  And how she used to be an outside dog only.  And how lucky we are that she has manners inside the house (some are newly acquired).

We discovered on Christmas day ... that ... she ... doesn't know how to ... PLAY.  Can you believe it?  It kind of makes sense.  It's not like she had a toy chest of furries at her disposal before us.  She never had more than an abandoned tennis ball found on the side of the road or a leftover deer leg bone (not kidding on that one).

Shelly sent Shadow a toy for Christmas!  Shadow was bewildered at how to "open" it.  Todd and Abby helped out a little with that part.  Then when she realized she had a new present all her own, she tried to play with it!  It was so funny watching this fully grown dog play like you'd expect an awkward puppy to act.  Check it out (try the link or the inserted video):

Shadow's first Christmas Present

It's so cute to see her get an energy spurt and run around the house playing with the toys.  She tosses them up like she does a mole freshly caught in the yard (hey, we live in the country).  She is such a hoot.  We just love her.

Here's another funny video from Christmas.  Isn't she a doll?!?

Shadow Playing

Exceeds Expectations

We went to Oklahoma this weekend and had a really wonderful weekend.  Celebrated Christmas with mom and dad.  We got way too many fun new things, especially for the kitchen (wahoo!).  I will yap about the yummy awesomeness we ate later, complete with pictures after I download.

There are two things I was nervous about prior to this weekend.  I didn't know how things would go.  Fortunately, I had absolutely no need to worry!

Shadow has never travelled, at least not to our knowledge.  She used to be an outdoor country dog.  Before us, she had never been a family member.  She didn't have toys, or a warm bed.  She doesn't really understand how to even "play" (more on that in a future post)!  We've opened the door to our home and our hearts, and she fits right in with ease.  She rode to and from Oklahoma like a seasoned pro.  She was not nervous or antsy about being in a moving vehicle.  She moved around only as much as our other kids did.  She dove right into the plate licking in grandma's kitchen.  She loved the walks through the acreage. 

She tried really hard to catch a mole or a bunny, but no luck.  It was so cute to see her run up to an area of overgrown brush, and stop with her tail stick straight in the air.  Then suddenly she would just jump into the brush like a jack rabbit (gained as much air vertically as she did horizontally), and all I saw was her tail.  It wagged once, then went very still.  Then off she went like her panties were on fire.  Now she understands why Abby and Keystone love to visit grandma and grandpa's so much.  She is going to sleep for the next two days, just like Abbytail and Keystone.

And the other major surprise of the weekend was... my reunion with my old high school best friend.  We'll call her "SamsMom".  I know that name will be hard for one of my other dearest friends ever, and I love her furry Sam with all of my heart--but I am sure that we are all flexible enough to adjust.  Plus the furry one's name isn't Sam on the Internet anyway, so we're set.  ;-)  Sam is such an awesome name.  One of my very favorites.  I had a cat named Samson once.  ANYWAY....

I was so happy when SamsMom's schedule was clear and she could come see me last Saturday afternoon.  She actually made sure she had time to see me as soon as we firmed up our travel plans.  I was so excited, counting down the hours until the time when she arrived.  

When I opened the door, it was just like we never lost the last nineteen years.  We picked up right where we left off.  We may not be as young or quite as thin as we once were, and *my* memory isn't quite what it used to be when recalling high school acquaintances, but she's still my old friend!  I feared maybe she changed, or I changed and I wouldn't feel the connection I used to have with her, but Not. True. At. All.  We sat there for hours and talked about what we have both been up to for the past 19 years, and what we remember back in high school.  We laughed like the school girls we used to be.  I'm hoping my mom didn't hear too many new stories.  I don't remember many of the other people who graduated in our class.  But I do remember that all the fun I had in high school, was with her.

What an amazing weekend that flew by much too fast.