She's got something to say...

First snow of the season. Not a lot, but enough to make it oh so pretty out there and to excite the Molly dog to no end. Moll loves her floppy frisbee. Moll loves snow. Put them together and you have a happy dog. While Ben dreams of chewing bully sticks and cuddly warm sleepy spots, Molly is praying to the snow gods.

Wanted to add, both my dogs grew in one helluva thick undercoat this winter. Molly is uber fluffy and even Ben's coat is quite dense. I wonder if that's indicative of the coming weather this winter?

Spice and everything nice

My sis of "Around the dog bowl" dog blog is visiting. My dogs are in luck, cuz my sis loves to homecook and bake for her own doggies! Last night, sis whipped out a batch of delicious smelling pumpkin spice cookies just for them. We had long been wanting to test out a number of home-baked dog treat recipes –  adjusting recipes to be grain-free  – since my dogs have been on a grain free diet for the last several years. I had played around with potato flours in the past with ok results, so this time we tested with garbanzo bean (chick pea) flour. Head on over to Around the Dog Bowl and see how we fared and if the dogs approved!

Jumpin' Jilley!

 

Every now and then I will feature some of the many great border collies available for adoption at Glen Highland Farm in upstate NY. I was visiting for a week earlier this month with my dogs and had the opportunity to have one on one time with many of the current dogs.

Meet Jilley! Jilley is a delightful girl... she had very buoyant and happy personality and made me laugh at her antics to get you to play with her. She's a sight to watch as she runs, very athletic and graceful with her long lean frame. She found a best buddy at the Farm, Hunter, a very regal looking boy pal... and they would love a home together!

In the weeds

In the weeds... well, not really. Just continuing on an extremely hectic end of summer into fall season with work stuff and life stuff. I thank my dogs for being a source of laughter and smiles when my head is in a traffic jam. I mean, look at that photo, that's a happy dog!

Meep meep!

Eyes in the back of my head

Doggie bliss

As unique as a fingerprint

For days like this.

By all these lovely tokens

September days are here,

With summer's best of weather

And autumn's best of cheer.

-- Helen Hunt Jackson, September

"The sun warms my back instead of beating on my head..."

-- Robert Finch, Common Ground

I'm sure you've all seen it... and felt it. There comes that time in September, where you are out with the dogs, the morning air is cool with a reserved hint of crispness. I close my eyes and take it in. The dogs sense it. They have been patiently waiting through the unrelenting heat of a record breaking summer. For days like this. My dogs regain that frisk in the step of their younger years. And they glance back at me, at the other end of the leash, as if to say "Let us walk awhile longer." I am happy to oblige.

Six in One

Creature at the Creek

Whenever we visit Glen Highland Farm, Molly spends a good amount of time in Butternut Creek. It winds throughout the property, babbling like a brook in some areas, rushing over rock piles in others and has great swimming for Molly and great wading for Ben.

Molly loves for you to throw things into the water for her to chase and swim after. Note I did not say fetch. For Molly, fetch seems to only to apply to objects thrown on terra firma. Over the years I've lost many a frisbee or floaty toy in the hopes that a such fun bright squeaky object would entice her to bring it back so that, yay, we can play with it again! But no. So I throw sticks. And I know lotsa folks are weird about using "sticks" to play with their dogs but they are plentiful and cheaper than fun bright squeaky floaty toys.

If there are no sticks to be had, or I'm occupied with Ben or taking pics, Molly will entertain herself. She goes bobbin' for rocks using her front paws to scrape the Creek bottom then plunges her head in to pull out the rock of her affection. And these are no small stones. Some of the rocks she's pulled out of the water over the years weighed as much as 3 pounds. (I've even kept a few of the more impressive ones, labeled with the date and location.)

In the photo above, we had just arrived to a favorite spot. My camera batt was low so I was fussing with it. Molly went ahead into the water to start bobbin'. By the time I changed out the batt she had scouted her rock, looking at me with excitement at what she found. She had not gone for a swim yet, so she was mostly dry except for the water pouring from her head. I likened her to a strange creature rising out of the depths of the water and chuckled. "Good girl!" I say. She proceeds to dig out her rock and carry it ashore. Still laughing at her antics I turn to taking pics of Ben. After 10 minutes I turn to Molly and I see that she has a collection now. She had been depositing her rocks in the same place on the shore. She had been standing her pile... I wonder, waiting for me to notice? "Good girl!" I say to her again. Soaking wet now, Molly trots over, right next to me and shakes off. A lot of water. I guess it's payback for not being more interactive with the creature at the Creek!

How to make it through the hazy hot days, by Ben.

That's easy... go on vacation! We head North from the humid hot stormy Mid-Atlantic to the cooler climes of upstate NY! Ok so it was still a bit hot and a little stormy but it felt positively better then the temps we were having at home in Bmore!

We made a trip up to Glen Highland Farm for their Canine Country Camp. Every year a group of like-minded folks and their dogs come together for a week of fun and learning on the gorgeous 175-acre property. There's agility, herding, rally-o, disc dog, flyball, freestyle, tracking and K9 Nosework. There are fascinating lectures on vet care, integrative medicine, reading dog behaviors, nutrition, etc. Everything about the Camp is about strengthening the bond you have with your dog(s). Ben and Molly's most favorite part.... trails and trails to explore off leash (and NO ticks) with lil ol me! Through the hemlock forests, through endless meadows, through the creeks, through the pond we went. We made lots of new people friends and new dog friends, and even met up with old friends from camps' past.

Here are some highlights from Ben:

Notably hot

It reached 105 today. I think the dogs knew that I was keeping them out of the heat for a good reason. Yes, as they lay in front of the AC vents around the house, I think they knew it was miserable outside. Molly didn’t even try to get me to toss the Frisbee for her whenever we did venture out for a pee break. When outside, the dogs would relish the heat for a second or two, feeling the warmth contrasting the coolness of their bodies. But it is only a matter of time before they look back at me, squinting in the hazy midday sun, and they run back to come join me in the climate controlled indoors.

A beautiful day! Like!

After being hammered last week with 90 degree temps and 50% humidity and raging pounding thunderstorms, the skies cleared and today we had a beautiful 80 degree day with a gentle breeze. Ben likes that.

Clean margins!

Yay for Ben! He has been recovering really well. It has been a bit over 2 weeks since his soft tissue spindle cell sarcoma excision surgery (say that a bunch of times really fast). He's been enjoying the extra pampering, treats, cuddle times and extra plush bedding popping up in places where there was none before. What he hasn't been enjoying however was his limited exercise - very short leash walks only. NO running, jumping or playing for those 2 weeks. We are now easing back into it and he is one happy camper. Molly was being great during his recovery, listening to me (for the most part) when I told her to not body check Ben or invite him on squirrel chases on the hill. BTW, Ben is not wearing a t-shirt because it's cute. He's wearing it because he does not bother his looong incision site when he is wearing it. It's quite effective and worked better than the dreaded cone.

The pathology on the excised mass was guarded news for us. The not great news was the sarcoma was a grade 3 tumor that has up to a 50% chance of recurrence. It was characterized as a neurofibrosarcoma/nerve sheath tumor. The best news is that the doc (a board-certified surgeon) was able to get clean margins by 1.5cm on all sides and 1cm deep, which is excellent!!! I take the bad with the good and stay optimistic. We have a lot of good things going for us: it had not spread to internal organs, Ben is in excellent health for a 12 year old, his blood panels and CBC are great, he is lean, always a great appetite and a good pooper and... and we got clean margins. I'll say it again. Clean. Margins.

Thank you to Dr. Krista Evans and the other fine staff at Chesapeake Veterinary Surgical Specialists. This has been quite an ordeal for little man Ben and an emotional journey for me. I hope to write about that in a future post but for now leave you with some random thoughts and observations:

• Ben is very happy to be eating more raw food
• All the leafy dark green veggies in the crisper drawer of my fridge are for my dogs
• Never say you would never buy a dog ramp for your vehicle
• I hope to never have to pull a RX transdermal patch off a dog ever again
• I'm thankful to have dogs that are easy pill takers
  
• Rescue Remedy is a fine fine product
• A dog wearing a cone collar is really freaking funny
  
• Walk your dogs and cherish every minute of their company

Hipsta' Dogs and healing thoughts

Havin' a lil fun with an iPhone app called Hipstamatic.
Hmmm, what shall I photograph? I know, Doggies!

Molly, indoors without a frisbee, ball or bribe isn't all that interested in having her photo taken. Captions for the above are interchangeable:

"Ok, just get on with it."
"Aren't you done yet?"
"I get a cookie after this, right?! Riiight??"

Now Ben on the other hand, is always ready for a closeup. Again, captions interchangeable: "How about this?"
"This angle good? I can change it up like this!"
"Or this, do I look good?"

Speaking of Ben... look at that face! Dear friends of the interwebz, my lovely Ben, who celebrated his 12th birthday last week, is going in for surgery tomorrow (Thursday) for excision of a soft tissue sarcoma mass from his side. We hope to have him home on Friday, happy, safe, sound, and healthier and minus a certain Mr. Sarcoma. Please send positive thoughts for a smooth operation, clean margins and a speedy recovery. Ben would really appreciate it!

Ben, meet twelve.

Twelve. 12 years and counting. 12 years, of knowing you. I had spotted you, the one shiny solid black pup in the litter of black and tan shepherd pups. You fell asleep as I held you and I knew you were mine.

You were the star in puppy class but a hellraiser at home. My devil dog. My baaad boy. I called you those things because you were challenging as a little one. When I didn’t know better. When I didn’t know you better.

You wait for me to wake up in the morning, content to sleep in, right along with me. I love that you start the day with long stretches of each of your legs, right down to each of your toes.

You lick to clean Molly’s face every morning and every night. On walks through the woods I so love to watch you two gallop shoulder to shoulder down the trails.

I know you can’t see as well in the dark anymore. But it is you that always find me first when we play hide and seek, Molly not far behind.

Solo walks are a pleasure for me to give to you. You move a bit different, you don’t walk, rather... meander. It’s different when it’s just you and me, I feel time move a little slower. You make that happen. On the warm days, as your step slows I bring you to the shade of trees for a needed rest and you are happy to indulge, rolling around, snorting and stretching, the cool grass on your belly, never failing to make me smile.

I stare at you a lot. I’ve watched the gray face come in, on your cheeks at first, you were still young at 2 years. One day the face of a distinguished and wise dog looked back at me. It’s hard to remember what you looked like before.

Today you turn 12.

You are my Zen dog. My take time to smell the roses dog. My live in the moment, be in the moment dog. My old soul dog. My teacher. I love you Zen Ben.

Happy Birthday my dear friend! That's 12 years... and counting!

Always ready for action

11 years and ever perky

Happy Birthday to me!

11 years and ever perky, for sure. Playful. Funny (If a dog can have a sense of humor, and I believe they do, she's got one). Focused. Loyal. Gentle. Joyful. Persistent. Happy Birthday Molly girl!