I'm an Idiot

I can never seem to get a nice picture of both girls together that I like.  I'm "anti-posing" (I like it when other people do it as they other people can do it well, but whenever I try it just looks too stiff and formal.)  But without posing, the odds of getting both dogs in the same place at the same time, AND looking good, AND being ready for it, is really a complete crap shoot.

But today I had a brain wave.  Why don't I make them stay and then call them to me?  Presto!  Two dogs, same focal plane, having fun AND I'm ready for it.  I can't believe I never thought of it before.

Now we just need to work on everyone having good expressions at the same time!  :)

Smiling in the Rain

Guess who came out on a walk today?

Birthday Weekend

My mom turned 65 this past week and she and Stephanie took a road trip to celebrate.  They started in North Van, drove to Nelson, spent a few days with my sister and her family and then continued on to here.

We celebrated with good food and a fun cake.

We took it pretty easy on the weekend.  On Saturday, we went bird watching at Park Lake.

We saw a hawk carrying something that looked like a rock (but I'm thinking it was a curled up ground squirrel or bunny) and a beaver carrying what looks like its baby!

On Sunday we checked out a bit of art at the University and then headed over to SAAG for more.  When we left SAAG, we noticed something going on in the park so we popped over to see what was happening.  It turns out it was a guy about to propose to his girlfriend.  He had enlisted his friends to help him out with a bit of a performance.  He had sent his girlfriend out with a friend on a scavanger hunt, and this was to be the last stop and they were going to surprise her.  We watched them practice the routine a few times, and then we HAD to stay and see the actual event.  It was fun. I'm sure there will be a video on YouTube soon as there was someone taping the proposal.  I'll post a link when I find it.  :)

Catch

Coulee has been such a trooper.  Now that she is starting to feel better, she has been wanting more and more to play fetch.

So today we compromised and played catch instead.  She stands there, and I throw her the ball.  There is no running involved but she still has fun.

She is able to go outside without any boots on, but because of the rain, I've just been putting one on her biopsy foot just so it stays drier.

Things are slowly getting back to normal and she is starting to get back into her routines.

One day soon she'll be 100% again!

I didn't notice the scratch on her nose until this picture!  I think someone got a little too close to Jack!  :)

Blood Sucker

Can you spot it?

If the other day was any indication, it is going to be a bad year.  I've stocked up on bug repellent already and oddly enough, it smells like candy.  It is seriously weird but it seemed to work.

A Big Smile

Lacey and I went to the dog park today and it was just what she needed to put a smile on her face.  She didn't once go into her "rightful place" and she was happy and sniffing the whole time.

She even took a short dip in the river.  No swimming today (it wasn't hot enough for her standards), just wading.

Getting her to fetch was still a challenge though.  At most, she would run half heartedly after the toy but then not actually get to it before detouring off to sniff.  Finally near the end, I was able to sass her up enough for three retrieves.

I'd even brought out the big guns - the water wubba that she loves to shake.  It is old, decrepit and oh so shakeable.

It is not that I think she needs to fetch to have fun, it is just the only way I can get her to actually RUN.  Coulee isn't the only one losing muscle tone.

I'd say we'll do that all over again tomorrow but the mosquitos were HORRIBLE.  I basically ran screaming for the car when we were only about halfway through our walk.  Marlin bought sunscreen the other day, but I hadn't thought of insect repellant. I'll have to remember to buy some on the way if we go!

Paw Update

Sorry for another dull post - this is mainly for my record keeping purposes...

It has been 12 days since we had the stitches removed and the splint taken off.  She is still in a cone for most of the day but in the past 2 or 3 days we've been able to take it off while she has been supervised.  We find if she has a baby Cuz to obsess over, she leaves her foot alone. As soon as she grows bored, she licks it.  If we give her a bone or anything to chew, she uses her feet to hold it, which must bother her a bit, as she then starts licking her feet.

We tried giving her cone free time by putting a boot on her foot, but every time we left a boot on for more than 20 minutes, the biopsy site would turn into a gooey hole.  It was bizarre.  It looked like she had solid pad there, but it was as if a sponge had been melted.  The last time we had a boot on for more than 2 or 3 minutes was Monday and we are afraid to try again incase it sets us back in the healing process.  I'm not sure when we'll find the courage to try again.  No boot means no walks, and not even any outside time other than quick potty breaks.

Her foot with the major problem (we didn't get the worst foot biopsied) is looking just as bad, if not worse than before.  The first time it happened it went away on its own within a few weeks.  It has been around 6 weeks now and despite cream and oil supplements, it hasn't improved at all.  I'm not sure why.

We can see grey areas on most of her pads, including her dew pads high up on her leg. None of the grey pads seem to be bothering her at this point.  Even the foot above isn't causing her to limp.  We are basically waiting for the biopsy site to heal for her to start back on walks.

We started her on zinc a few days ago and we will be trying it for at least a month to see if it has any effect.  We are continuing with the oil and Vitamin E supplements as well and have a few days left of antibiotics.  We've stopped her pain meds and we only occasionally see a slight hitch on her biopsy foot. She has an ear infection (probably from wearing the cone so much) but that is pretty minor and we are treating it.

Her spirits are higher as she has started chasing the cats again and occasionally doing "the beat down on Lacey".  She doesn't mope in the cone any more but still hasn't learned to navigate smoothly with it on. For such a smart dog, she can be a slow learner.  LOL.

We are on a waiting list for a dermatologist but it will probably be Oct until we get in.  We are also on a cancellation list - so if someone cancels, we have a chance to get in early.

Park Lake II

Coulee was up vomiting again this morning at 5 a.m. (Second day in a row.  No idea why).  So I took advantage of my early morning awaking and went out to Park Lake again.  It was so beautiful and peaceful out there.

Swainson's Hawk

These aren't the best hawk pictures, but they are my best.  :)  I'm not sure how people manage to get nice crisp bird photos as mine never are.

Hugs and Kisses

Lacey and I headed over to Blazingstar yesterday for a walk.  When we first arrived, she was a little overwhelmed by all of the attention.

She wasn't the only one overwhelmed. Salander wasn't too impressed with Lacey.

I turned around to make sure Lacey wasn't acting threatening and this was the looks she was giving the cat...

Not particularly threatening... at least not to us.  Salander obviously felt otherwise.

Soon enough everyone figured out who their friends were.

And then the flirting began.  Lacey's ears were practically touching she was so excited.

Tinbie gave her lots of kisses.

Lots, and lots of kisses.  Her head was soaked by the time we left.

Lacey loved every minute of it and rewarded him with a big hug.

Watching them trying to play was hilarious.  She kept bouncing off him, then taking off for a run wanting him to chase her. He would just stand his ground wagging his tail and she would come back and it would start all over again.

Thanks Liz (and crew) for a fun walk!

Jack's Big Day

Jack is getting neutered today!

What?!!!

Idiopathic Hyperkeratosis

I just realized I never updated you on Coulee's diagnosis.  Idiopathic Hyperkeratosis are just big words that don't mean much.  Basically she has something affecting her feet but that they don't know what.

The biopsy had a 70% chance of getting us an actual diagnosis, but we unfortunately fell into the other 30%.  We do know it isn't autoimmune and it isn't cancer.  What we don't know is what we can do to prevent it from happening more.

We are going to try and see if Zinc helps.  In the meantime, we still need to get her pad to heal after her biopsy.  It has been almost 3 weeks and it is a bit of a mess.  She is now on two different kinds of pain meds and has been placed back on antibiotics as well.  She is wearing a cone 24/7 and a boot every time she steps out the door.  She is still limping but the second pain meds we added today definitely helped.  We are now using Uremol on her other diseased pads to try and get them back to normal as well. 

We are just taking it one day at a time.  We are going to re-evaluate things in a month to see if the Zinc and cream is making a difference.  Hopefully she'll be back out on walks soon.

Puppies

I got to hang out with puppies twice this week.  I'm a happy girl.

 It is a much different experience photographing one 9 week old puppy, than it is to photograph four 9 week old puppies!

It's a really good thing I don't have puppy fever right now, because not all these pups are spoken for yet!  Contact Koping Weimaraners if you are looking for a new addition.

Watching puppies play is good for the soul.

They look so fierce, but they are just marshmallows with teeth.  Sharp puppy teeth.  :)

Thanks again Julia!