When life isn't worth living

We have company coming to visit, so the house is being cleaned.  Cleaned, including dogs.  Every time I find a place to lie down, here comes the noisy sucky machine.   I move, and then here comes the noisy sucky machine again.   Then I have invested hours in seeing that I have a dog toy within a few feet of me wherever I am in the house.   All the toys are now back in the box and I will have to start all over again.    Stella is not helping, she just goes outside and chases squirrel's.   Nala is so deaf that she sleeps until the noisy sucky machine starts pulling on her hair.  Once it makes her move, she just sits and waits till it moves on, then she lies back down in her favorite place.   Nothing bothers Nala. 

The humans did a fish rescue a week ago.   Someone had three very big goldfish in a huge tank, they wanted to make sure the fish were well cared for, they had kept them for over 10 years and they were over 16" long.   The tank and fish were moved into the basement.  In the spring when the water warms up outside, they will go into the Koi pond, there they will have thousands of gallons of swimming room.  Meanwhile the paw challenged ones decided that since they have to have one aquarium with water in it, why not put water in several more aquariums they had in retirement.  So now we have 4 55 gallon tanks running.   The question on my mind is, are the fish food, or pets?   One of the goals is to put small Koi in several of the tanks so that we will have larger Koi come spring.   The Koi pond went from several hundred gallons of water to several thousands of gallons when it was enlarged this last fall.  The few Koi and goldfish that were in the old pond are now lost in the new one. 

We are still working on a new home for Stella.   This coming week end she will get to inspect her possible new home.  She needed to wait for fences and dog doors to be in place.  Once she inspects the offered home, she will let us know if there are enough trees, enough squirrels, enough hands and enough room to romp in.  She will be looking for friends in the neighborhood to have play dates with, and inspecting the local dog park.   She will need to test their ball throwing talent and inspect the floor beside the bed where she will sleep, check the brand of dog treats they serve, then she will make up her mind.  She will report back to let us know if it meets with her standards.

Mogley G. Retriever

Emma, the family matriarch.

Above, from the left, Nala, then our matriarch, Emma. 

Emma is our cousin, the family matriarch, and senior dog in the family.    She went on a hunger strike, two plus days without eating was enough, she was rushed to the vet.   Since her family was out of town, we were in charge of the emergency run to the official rescue vet.    She was badly dehydrated so she was put on an iv to rebuild her strength while her blood tests were done.   It was discovered that the problem was in her kidneys, she had a well developed infection that needed attention.   Medications and fluids restored her appetite and in a day she was up and around again.   We knew she was feeling better when we saw her rolling in the fresh snow, legs in the air and her whole body wiggling as she made snow angels.   All is well that ends well, but we wanted to report, it is just one of those things that keeps us busy.

We are setting up a second meeting with the family that was interested in giving Stella a Forever Home.  They are moved into their new house, but they don't have the dog doors installed yet.   Stella may try the house out and then decide if she wants to accept their offer, and if she needs to wait for the dog doors.   Keep your paws crossed.

Stella had her first Ice Ceam carton today, at first she thought she had to chew it, then she discovered that licking the inside was the best way to deal with it.    When the ones who are paw challenged are done with ice cream cartons, they leave a little in the bottom and they save them in the freezer until they have enough cartons for everyone.   Then they give us each a carton to lick out.   Sometimes we get them stuck on our heads, but eventually we clean them up ready for the trash can.    Then we lobby for some real ice cream from the new carton in the freezer.  

Mogley G. Retriever

Help a friend

There is a post on Trudi's blog that she lost her long time Golden friend, Earnhardt this morning.   Please give her some kind words and help her through this time.      Use this link:     http://www.pointedstick.org/trudi/blog/?p=755

Thank you,

Mogley G. Retriever

Stella's possible new home.

Above, Stella in full stride, protecting the home from squirrels.

I have been lax in posting, but not lax in enjoying life.   We had been waiting for a few new photos to post with the blog.    The camera battery chargers got misplaced in cleaning.    With two chargers for one camera, you would think that the paw challenged ones would be able to find one.    So we finally broke out the old camera, it takes plain batteries, the kind you buy in the store.   

We have had several play dates with our cousins, seven goldens playing together  when the tall ones have to travel.   We have had some wild times at the dog house during our play dates.   Molly wanted to make sure the Koi pond was frozen, it was not frozen that well, besides, the pump keeps an open area in the center, so you can swim 365 days of the year if you are so inclined.   Molly is so inclined.   Then we are all locked inside till we dry off and warm up.   Stella has discovered that Molly is right, swimming time is all the time, and she has been testing the ice almost daily, so far only one leg at a time has gotten wet, apparently after inserting a test paw, she decided it was still too cold. 

We had a meeting with a possible new home for Stella.   Yes, there are squirrels.  Lots of squirrels.  Stella is still here, still chasing squirrels for us, still protecting our home.  But she is debating the offer she received.   We will see how it goes, Stella has very high standards, and she is making a very important decision.   Being an only dog has some attraction, the all important "hand to dog ratio" would be much better at the possible new home.   The hand to dog ratio here is one to one, that ratio would improve to 4 to one at the new home.  They are in the process of moving, so Stella has some time to think about it.   In the photo above we show Stella in full "contemplation" mode, on her blue orthopedic bed.   The bed would go with her, it is her favorite place.  There will be another meeting to make sure they know how to spoil a lady, after all, Stella will settle for nothing less.   We have not even discussed what brand of treats they use, and how ofter they have "treat time".    Stella also wants to review their ball throwing skills. 

Above, Stella seeks Bella's advice on whether to accept the offer of a new forever home.  

Mogley G. Retriever