The Mischief of a Puppy & Her Brother

As our boxer family grows, so does the wild, and amusing behavior. My morning begins with my two fur babies, Kc, and Star waking me for their breakfast. This is somewhere between 6 & 6:30am each and everyday. No problem, I’m a morning person so the 3 of us sneak downstairs while the rest of the family stays in slumber a little longer. Bathroom, then breakfast for the boxers. Star at 4 months will become very vocal if I don’t get her food ready fast enough. Kc stands up on the counter continuously to check my progress while I am assembling their food bowls. Finally I place their food bowls down, and watch them eat like 2 starved puppies. You wouldn’t believe that they were getting 3 big meals a day. Being boxers they are lucky to have a metabolism that allows them to eat big meals, and stay nice, and slim.

Now after their breakfast, we go outside again for another bathroom break, clean up, and back in for my cup of coffee. It’s time for me, after some puppy play, treats, and kisses to go upstairs to get ready for my day. The fur babies cannot follow me up the stairs b/c of their devilish play. Downstairs that have buckets of toys, beds to lay on, and an open door to the pasture, and garden.

They are surprising me for the past 4 mornings on my return downstairs. I might have been gone for 45 minutes. First they bring, I’m sure it is Star, the newspaper in. This is no small feat, because they have to bring it from the front of the house all the way around to the back, and through the back door into the living room. this is where they can take it out of it’s plastic bag, and open it for their Dad to read when he comes downstairs. I think during this process Kc the sweetheart that he is, has been trying to teach Star how to read. This would explain the newspaper being spread all over the living room. Not just the floor, but those cute kids of mine managed to also spread it all over the coach, which is very large, along with both of their beds. Fun, fun, fun.

Of course I come down and look at my sweet babies, who are dancing with joy, and then see the living room. My mouth falls open, with disbelief. Pick up the paper, and tore pieces of plastic, then we talk. Big eyes, lots of kisses, those are from me, and I’m sure tomorrow will be better.

“Sisters”

Our shining “Star” from boxer rescue has been a joy to us all. We were very happy to hear that Star’s sister lived pretty close to us. Brenda, from BoxerOCrescue, called me a couple days after Star was living with us. She requested our permission to give out our phone # to the family that had adopted another female boxer from the same litter. That same day we got a call from Deb to set up a play date. We responded with “come on over right now”. When the girls saw each other they were delighted, and began to play immediately. 

It was also great to see our shy guy Kc get into the game. Now we have three beautiful boxers running wild, and having fun in our yard. The little boxer’s name is Shanti, and she is a real doll. We all fall in love with her right away too. Can you tell we love boxers….

So either Scott and Jess bring Shanti over the house, or it’s Mom and Jess. Star and Kc can’t wait for their play dates with Shanti. We look forward to watching the girls grow, and change together. We all feel this is a nice opportunity to sit back and enjoy these boxers at play.

Our dear 95 year old friend

Every Sunday morning Candy and I visit a dear dear friend about 40 minutes away from home.  She’s like a mother, a grandmother, a big sister, a close girl friend. She too has had dogs her whole life. At the age of 93 she raised a puppy that was only a few weeks old. She couldn’t walk fast enough to get the door open for her little dog to run out to pee but she rigged the door with her cane so that when the puppy came over, the door slid open for him. She trained this little toy poodle herself. Taught it to sit, fetch. She lived an amazing life, she saw and lived through the Depression. She told us of stories of sadly how people jumping out of windows because of finances. She worked for the census bureau and went to places that a white woman should not go.  But she said the people were always friendly. She worked as a nurse. She told me she has seen every war our country has ever been through and yet tells me this is the worst one. She has lived in New York, Boston, Mississippi, Seattle, California. I always wanted to write a book about this dear friend, her life fascinated me. Candy and I would visit her in Arizona at least once a month. It was a great time. It wasn’t like going to your parents, though,  sometimes she chided us but all in fun. We drank together, we did our hair together, we laughed, we watched movies. She loved Cantonese duck. We would bring her some almost every visit. She told us our visits were like Christmas. I told Candy, never in my life time would I ever hear a human being say to me I bring her Christmas. How precious and touching is that.  We would do all the things you do with your girlfriend except she was in her 90s. Candy called her “Ma” everywhere we went.

One visit, we decided to bring Lucy to visit her and the new puppy. Lucy was still a baby too and she loved car rides. 5 hours from LA to AZ, Lucy was a trooper. When Lucy and Rascal (the puppy) met they ran around the house chasing each other till their tongues hung out from pure exhaustion. The toy poodle was jet black so all you see is this black furry thing. Candy even carted the dogs around with the walker.

When she at 95 , unable to walk and care for herself, her son moved her to the Los Angeles area so we all could be closer to her. The most amazing thing about her is that whenever I was down, sad, bothered by something, I could call and tell her about it. She ALWAYS had a positive attitude on everything. Even when she was in the hospital with a broken hip, she would ask us how are you girls doing? One thing I have learned in life is to surround yourself with loving and positive people, you derive so much energy from that. Even though she cannot reiki me, I can reiki her and she gives back SO much more. It has never been a chore to visit her or to see her. I don’t want to write about her when she is no longer here, she still to this day gives back to Candy and I. We always get something positive from her. She still makes us laugh everytime we see her. She still makes us feel good about ourselves. She still compliments our hair, and boy, is that a biggee! We love you Phyllis forever!

Adjusting to life as we know it

So as you all know Lucy is at my house now. Star is at Candy's. The last several weeks when walking down to Candy's house with Lucy she would refuse to walk. She'll walk across the street , down the street but not up the street. I got her once with a treat but last week even with a treat she refused. What was this about? I couldn't understand. Was she upset? Was she jealous? Was she sad? She seemed okay, ate and played. In fact over the last week or soon, after her bath and her allergies taken care of, the brightness in her eyes have come back. She runs around the house at lightning speed making us laugh. I asked Candy to come and spend some time with Lucy to see if she was okay. My main concern is that Lucy is ok. Candy came down several times without her dogs and spent time with Lucy. She said Lucy was not anxious. She even gave reiki to Lucy several times and said, there was no anger, no anxiety.. just that she was content. Content at the Brown house? wow. How cool is that. I was happy to hear it. If Candy said Lucy wasn't anxious I believe it.

So the last few weeks Sammy and Lucy have been home while we have been at work. And no digging, the house isn’t destroyed. I’m just amazed. My niece Rayne comes to visit them on occasion, thank you Rayne! She comes and just hangs out with them.  One day in particular that Rayne came to hang, Sammy and Lucy were the happiest dogs! When we got home they were full of energy and I could tell they were extra happy!! (Rayne is going to watch Mochi next weekend while we are away, Mochi will be thrilled) Sammy Diva and Lucy  are doing well. Sammy is 8, so I imagine her sleeping alot.. Lucy is 3 and she gets her laser beam play every night with Daddy. (http://blog.reikifurbabies.com/2008/06/16/our-corgi-part-dog-part-cat/)

So all in all, things are good.

Tomorrow I take Sammy back to the Vet to get her urine checked to make sure her bladder infection is totally gone. Lucy is barking at me this moment, she wants me off the computer!!

Come One Come All

 

The Puppy Shower pictures and to read how we got Star http://blog.reikifurbabies.com/2008/07/03/with-age-comes-wisdom/

         

         

     

A Full Moon

I find out a few nights ago that it was a full moon out. That totally makes sense. I mean, It had to be something, at 3am, Sammy Diva wakes up and walks around the room. Part of me awakes listening to see if she has to go out. She walks to the water bowl and takes a drink. I hear her then just pace around the room a bit. She doesn’t come to my side of the bed or Daddy’s. If she needs to go out, she’ll wake us up. But nope, not a sound. I say to myself, please, go back to sleep, go back to sleep. Few minutes later, I hear her snoring again.  Almost around the exact time, Mochi decides to throw a furball. How lovely is that. I’m too groggy to

care.  However, Lucy then wakes up and starts to bite her paws as if being attacked by the Allergy monster. I flip her over put my arms around giving her reiki and we both fall back to sleep…….

This is an odd week, just balance seems to be knocked off a bit. My closest friends having surgery.. lots of reiki being sent out to family and friends. My very dear friend said to me that I was her “energy” hub and because of that she felt strength going into her surgery. That really made me smile.  I liked that. Very sweet. I think we’ll all be back in balance in no time.

Knowing When To Let Go

This is to all my faithful readers. I’m sure you have followed my many puppy sagas. The death, the loss, the arrivals and the moving of puppies. Whenever anyone meets Star, the new puppy, they say, oh you have replaced Lucy with Star. Alright, back up, back up. Now, I am setting the record straight once and for all. 

I love Lucy, I have always loved Lucy. I have always put my dogs needs- financially and emotionally above my own. 

Lucy was rescued by me as you know.

But she also spent time such as weekends, sleep overs with my BFF Ming, her husband Mark, Sammy Diva and Mochi. Lucy was part of their extended family. But not for Mark. For Mark, this was his little girl. Because he spent a lot of time during the rescue process with her. He took care of her when she was a puppy. He became very attached to her. Ming had Sammy Diva before they were married and they had a very close bond. Mochi seemed to love everyone, you know cats, they do what they need to survive. The one thing Ming and I both noticed was this amazing thing that Lucy did. She had two routines in two different houses which included her eating habits, her walking habits even sleeping habits. The moment she walked in the Brown house, she knew what routine she would be in. At my house, she lived another. What a smart dog, we had never seen this. This must be because she is a rescue dog. 

After Ry’s passing I noticed a decline in Lucy’s behavior. She played a little with KC but didn’t come out of her shell much. Again, down the street (which is only a few doors down) she goes. She seems to find peace there. Its a calming house. Sammy is an older Lab, spends evening time w/ Mom and Dad on the couch watching movies and drinking wine. (not the dog) Also, at night, they pull Lucy into bed since she was so small. Sammy always sleeps on her bed. Mochi also slept at the foot of the bed as well. At this time, I developed my lung condition.  Lucy sleeping in my bed exacerbated my condition. My pulmonologist said no dogs on my bed at all. Another bummer for Lucy. Now, this is a dog that I carried around, held in my arms. Lucy is not a dog-dog . Lucy is a dog-person. So her personality starts to change. Also KC is slowly coming out of his coma and looking for someone to play with. Guess who, Lucy. Lucy enjoys it somewhat. Though Lucy is a Corgi and KC is a Boxer. Imagine what that is like from Lucy’s point of view. KC would sit on Lucy, use her as a ball, drag her around by the collar to play with her. Lucy is a small Corgi. It began to take its toll on her. More nights at the Brown’s. Lucy began to snap a lot more at KC. I began to see her feeling more miserable. During reiki with Lucy, both Ming and I felt what was going on. But we had no solution at the time. Ming was pretty happy with her life, but Lucy wormed her way into Ming’s heart. Ming didn’t know she had room in her heart for one more dog. She was surprised at how attached she was becoming to Lucy. It became harder for her to just pick up Sammy Diva after work and leave Lucy behind. 

I searched my heart. I needed to do the right thing for Lucy. Not for KC or anyone else. I walked down to talk to Ming and Mark. Lucy’s well being was the most important. That was when the decision was made for Lucy to become a member of the Brown household.Well, I think her puppy prayers were answered. She is very happy. We had a great puppy shower to celebrate her move. It was a wonderful time. I don’t think anyone will ever comprehend the sacrifice of giving up someone you love because it’s better for them. 

I am lucky because I see Lucy almost every day and she spends the afternoons with me. So its not a HUGE sacrifice, so please, I never replaced Lucy. I gave Lucy the best most loving home she could have. Because I put a furbaby first. Win, win!

A Healthy Dog is a Happy Dog!

For the past 2 days at 5am, Sammy Diva has been waking up extremely happy. We can hear her make these AH!, AH!, AH! sounds which means that she is on her back with her legs stretching up into the air. How happy happy she must be.  Seeing her do this one, two sometimes three times a day makes us laugh. Its wonderful to see how good Sammy Diva must be feeling.  She must be pain free. This is actually the happiest I have ever seen her since I had her. And she is 8 years old! She has had plenty of antibiotics etc in the past. I attribute this to the reiki. She must really feel good. And doesn’t that song just play in your head, ” I feel good…Whoa-oa-oa! I feel good, I knew that I would, feel good, I knew that I would, now
So good, so good, by James Brown! ” Yeah, baby!!

 

 She was outside today and again… Sammy Diva was so happy again!!! This is the same day that she woke up at 5am doing the same thing!  I said to Mark, quick, get the camera, who would believe an 8 year old yellow labrador retriever with canine hip dysplasia was this happy?! Yeah, reiki! The Vet said she had extensive damage to her hips. Does this look like a dog with pain? No! I think she has reverted back to puppy mode! All we can say is that we are happy that she is happy. It is great being a dog and having a great life! Nothing is better than this. No more bladder infection, no more pain in my hip. I haven’t had to give her anything for pain since I stopped to Rimadyl. The Vet said once the weather changes I can give her buffered aspirin, but obviously, she is NOT in any pain!

Cat, Queen for the day

I don’t write much about Mochi because she is always fine. Low key, no drama, doesn’t get sick, gets along with the dogs.In fact the cutest thing is that when Lucy first met Mochi  (they’re the same size, they see eye to eye) Lucy licked Mochi’s face,  and all Mochi did was blink her eyes quickly. They sleep on the bed together. Mochi is a Mainecoonknown for its high intelligence and playfulness. You would never guess she was 13 years old! An old lady. But still runs around the house with glee. Joins us every night for dinner. She is also very vocal, she talks a lot. We used to call her “Ry” in fur because she like Ry (Candy’s boxer) would yell and scream a lot for things. We’ll never forget to feed her, she lets us know if she needs more food and will pretty much hound us until its done. Patience is not one of her virtues.

One thing though is fur balls. I know, yucky thing to talk about. But the malt we have been giving her seems to help. We’ve switched her to less dry food as she wasn’t keeping it down. Must be her getting older. My doc told me that she’ll probably live to her 20s since she’s never been outside. Been keeping her healthy. Only time she was in the hospital was when she was little. ( That’s an earlier article if you’re interested-(The Story of Mochi)

) So, this past weekend I was working in my office when Mochi started meowing in a tone that I had not heard before which concerned me. She was on her top floor of her condo and out came a furball. Poor thing. Poor me having to clean it all up. When I took a chair to (I’m not tall enough to even see her top floor) to look, I almost tossed my cookies. What mess.  I cleaned what I could and told my husband her condo needed to go. 

Perhaps you have a hubby like mine, one who loves his furbabies as much as I do. Mark spent all afternoon shampooing and cleaning the carpet on Mochi’s condo from top to bottom. When I got home from visiting a sick friend, I was completely SHOCKED. Mochi’s condo looked as clean as it did the day I bought it 3 years ago. Brand spanking new! WOW, was I happy. Mochi was happy. She felt like the Queen.  SO much time is spent with our dogs because they are so much more needy. But Mochi was thrilled. Up to the top floor she went. Daddy is the best.  Then the next day to Mochi’s and my surprise, Daddy took the cat box and scrubbed that out too. WOW. And then when I went to take the dishes out of the dishwasher, they were gone already. Awesome hubby or what?! My friends at work were like, wow, you got the best hubby!!

What is it about puppies and parties?

We start with puppy pound cake.  Then we move onto the games, pin the tail on the “kitty” and bobbing for bones. I don’t know about your fur babies, but mine love them. That is why we have so many of them. These photos are from Sammy Diva’s birthday party. Her Mom and Dad were at work. So Sammy spends most of their work days hanging out with us. I take photos all the fur babies and email them throughout the day so Ming isn’t so lonely. Can you tell they like having their hats on and their pictures taken? Probably because I’m laughing my pants off the whole event. I’m usually busy in my office working, in comes one, then another, now the number is up to 4 and they want to just hang out. They’re like kids that way, they sit for awhile and then they want to play. I thought I’d share fun party pictures. I hope everyone has as much fun as we do. Celebrate every chance you can. They bring out the joy and laughter in all of us every day.