Brook's eye

Years ago when Brook joined the pack, she was diagnosed with detached retinas, resulting in complete blindness.  At that time and at every visit to the opthamologist, the same warning, "It isn't IF her eyes need to be removed, it is WHEN."  All the warning signs were reviewed over and over again.  Yesterday one of those warning signs appeared.

For a couple of days, Brook's left eye appeared a bit red in the corner but she was likely tired at the times, so no concern. Then on Tuesday evening, Bill and her were running out the door (as usual) and Brook slid into the fence on her left side. Typical Brook, she got up and carried on. (she has bumped her head much harder numerous times) Wednesday morning, her left eye was full of blood.

Off to the vet.  Brook had blood taken and got lots of treats.

Surgery to remove her eye is scheduled for next Tuesday.  If all goes well during the removal of the left eye, her right eye will be removed at the same time. It makes more sense to remove it if possible since she can't see, there is really no need to keep it.

We'll keep you posted as to how things are going.

Monday Mischief

The house cats Elsie and Alice got some new toys to have upstairs away from the dogs. 

Here is one of the toys. 

Lets call this before.

Then we'll call this photo the after.

This is Molly denying any knowledge of what happened.

To Rachel@my two pitties and anyone else who may be wondering about Molly.  There is no plan to keep her. It isn't that we don't want her, it is that she isn't what we want.  Molly is a super lovable and smart happy lab who would be a fantastic addition to any home.  There are a couple of possible homes that we will consider in the spring but for the winter at least, she will be with us. There is no rush for her to leave.

Callie's yellow ball

Years ago, back when blind Hiker was adopted, I searched for toys that would make some noise so she could find them.  One of the best and least expensive was a yellow plastic ball from the dollar store.  Since it has nubby things all over it, it made a slight noise rolling on the icy snow in the yard and the floors in the house.  

Hiker wasn't (and still isn't) overly interested in playing with toys.  Callie however, discovered the yellow ball and it became one of her favourites and she would even pose for pictures with it.

Since it was so popular, we had a few extras on hand.  Now we are playing with the last one. The dollar store doesn't stock these any more and every time we see a dollar store we stop in to no avail.  We've checked in both Canada and the United States.

The last one is not in good condition.

Callie still plays fetch with it but we don't know for how much longer.

4 dogs, 3 months

It seems that in the past three months word has gotten out about us.  Our post title is not a challenge. That is the number of dogs we have been offered in the past three months.  Yes, four dogs have been offered to us by their owners in just three months.

The first one was Molly who we accepted into our home.

Molly

The month after Molly there were two medium sized mixed breeds. A couple we know had split and the dogs were at the house with the man.  He wasn't sure that he wanted them and asked if we would take them.  As difficult as it was, I said no.  Well, not completely no.  I offered that if he wasn't able to care for them that they could come to our home and we would re-home them. Another option I suggested was the local Humane Society. 

For now, those two dogs are being well cared for.  I ask often. Not just a casual, "how are the dogs?" but questions that require a more detailed answer than "fine" or "okay".

Then last week, there was a Treeing Walker Coon Hound.

       

The family that has him purchased him as a puppy from up the road...he was SO cute!  Unfortunately, this dog, now almost two years old, is not a good fit for this family. They admit that they had no idea about the breed nor what his temperment or exercise requirements would be.  Did we want another dog?

Again, I said no but with options.  I suggest a trainer, increased exercise and mental stimulation along with doing some research on the breed (better late than never).  For now, he staying with the family.  Again I offered that if they are needing him out, we will make room for him until a suitable home can be found.

Sad and somewhat scary isn't it?  In just three months, four dogs.  How many more have we not heard about?

We can't help everyone but we can and will do what we can where we can. 

WW explained

Did you see our Wordless Wednesday post yesterday?  This was the picture we posted.

Yes, that is poor Bill underneath Brook.  I think maybe we should explain how that picture came to be.

This is what happens when someone moves the chair that a blind and partly deaf dog named Brook always sleeps on.  Yes, the furniture was moved. Now, some people think that if you have blind dogs you can never, ever move your furniture around.  Well, as you know from reading this blog, all the dogs are treated the same - treated as normal. The world is not padded and there are obstacles. And yes, sometimes the furniture moves.

This all started because there is a leak in the roof that drips on the couch. We have been having heavy rains the past few days so the couch has been covered in a tarp. That didn't stop Brook. She still lay on it.

One of the joys of a blind and partly deaf go-with-the-flow dog is that things can happen around them and they don't really mind.  Brook was sleeping on her favourite chair and so I just slid the chair to where I wanted it and moved the couch in.

Brook was oblivious.  Until she woke up and headed for the door.  Oops, a slight navigation problem.  She was about two feet too far to the left.  Not to worry, she quickly corrected course with a little help.

Later, when Brook went to lay on her chair after supper, she went to the usual spot but encountered the couch and Bill. Being the determined little thing that she is, she climbed up anyway and made herself comfortable. 

Typical Bill, he just lay there.  After a few minutes (and a few pictures) I removed Brook to the chair. Not acceptable in her opinion. She went back to the couch. It took a few times of being moved for her to accept the fact that the chair moved.

There will be more moving of furniture in a couple of weeks as we move into the house.  It'll be easier though since nobody will know where anything is!

Outside nap

It is interesting to watch how different members of the pack prefer their bedding.  Both of the blind dogs, Hiker and Brook are "nesters". The more bedding and the fluffier it is, the better. Trail and Molly both have a tendency to chew loose bedding so Molly had a piece of carpet and Trail has an old felted wool blanket. Callie likes her crate to have six to eight inches of loose straw and Bill likes to lay on the bed, on the pillows.

On a recent warm and sunny day, Brook decided to nap outside. Since there was no bedding outside, she took matters into her own paws and went to work. The hard ground needed to be fluffed up to make it more comfortable for her nap in the sunshine. It was quite the process.

First, a spot was selected.

Then the area had to rearranged and the dirt loosened.

A test of the comfort was next.

Deemed acceptable, time to settle in.

Sunshine, a few friends and a comfortable outside spot for a nap.

(and a deaf dog who likes to be the center of attention!)

Tasty Tuesday

We had Tomatofest!

Since fall has arrived and there have been a few nights of light frost warnings, it was time to bring in the last of the tomatoes and pull up the plants.  It was interesting to watch the pack and their reaction once the fence was moved. Even blind Brook knew almost immediately that there was access to the garden and food. 

We had a good crop of cherry tomatoes and as you can see, there were still some ripe ones that were falling off the plants. Perfect snacks for the dogs. 

Bill likes tomatoes but doesn't seem to like the cherry tomatoes when they burst as he bites them. So, he prefers to have some human intervention - if the cherry tomato is slightly squashed before he eats it, he enjoys them better. Trail watched this interaction and decided that he too needed his "served" this way. Brook and Molly just gobbled as many as they could.

After all the plants were removed and the tomatoes eaten, Brook settled in for a rest with a full tummy.

A shadow?

Here is Trail's version of me and my shadow.

Trail and Molly

Monday Mischief

Today's Monday Mischief is brought to you by Molly.

Trying her best to be a "help" she thought she could assist with some cleaning.

Goldilocks?

Do you remember the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears? Specifically the part where "somebody is sleeping in my bed" ?  Our blind girl Hiker likes to sleep in the big plastic dog bed. Then blind and partly deaf Brook decided to try it out.  As is typical of Hiker, she pouted.

Hiker squeezed herself into the smallest space she could, no doubt to add to the pathetic image she was attempting to portray.

As you can see, there is enough room for both of them in the bed but Hiker was having none of that sharing stuff.  

After about an hour's nap, Brook wandered off and Hiker eventually got her bed back.

Bill at the beach

As you know, taking all of the pack on an outing is not something we do.  The limit for safety (and my sanity) is four. Sometimes it is nice to have that one on one time and this time it was Bill.

We ventured off to a beach that Callie and I discovered a couple of weeks ago.

Unlike Callie, Bill likes having his picture taken and will happily pose.

As usual, we were the only ones on the beach. 

The weather is becoming more fall like but still warm enough for the beach. At least in our opinion. No doubt we will go to the beach even when there is snow. 

What we saw!

During one of exploring adventures recently, we saw some interesting and very large wild animals.  Much larger than we are used to seeing here where there are no moose, no bears, no deer.  The largest free roaming wild animal is the coyote.  

But, there are these -

A herd of buffalo!

Yes, they are real.  There is a park where they live and visitors can walk up to the fence to check them out and there are also viewing platforms.

No pictures with the dogs because even though there was a big fence, it wouldn't be nice to.have an excitable dog or two checking them out.  

We continued on our adventure for the day and headed to the beach - 

Then we tried to get Callie to pose for a picture with a lighthouse in the background but as usual, Callie didn't want her picture taken!

(The waves were rough this day so Callie had to remain on a long leash for safety)

Wordless Wednesday

"Where is Chuck?"

Our deaf boy Trail continues to enjoy his "chuck-it" ball, known simply as Chuck.  For some reason, while carrying Chuck around, in between gnawing on it, Trail likes to put Chuck in places that Chuck cannot be retrieved from.  It isn't that Trail is trying to hide the ball because he always asks for help in getting Chuck back.

Here are some recent examples of where Chuck has been found...

a bucket....

 the pool...

an old milk crate...

 the cooler...

 work bag...

When Chuck is missing, Trail will stand and wait for help or look at me then at where the ball is.  If I show Trail the palms of my hands, fingers down, he will go to the spot Chuck was last seen. Even though Trail cannot hear, I always ask, "Where is Chuck?" Sometimes, I must admit, I mutter, "Where the (bleep) is Chuck?" when we have done the Chuck retrieval repeatedly.  

Chuck is a calming presence for Trail.  If he doesn't have Chuck, he tends to grab and bite at his feet, chase his tail in a slightly panicked state and has, on occasion, twitched a few times. So, even though it can be a bit tiresome to find the ball over and over again, if it makes for a happy dog, it will be done!

A visitor

We had a visitor the other day. A cute little visitor.

It was in the pool. The pool that none of the dogs want to play in.  At least the pool was being used.

Then there was too much activity and our little visitor made an escape.

Callie's adventure

It was beach weather again!  Yes, we go the beach quite often - because we can.  Early in the morning, when it is cooler and there are usually no people or dogs on the beach is Callie's favorite time to go.

We always head out with a destination in mind but for some reason, with Callie, we often end up somewhere unplanned.  It isn't that Callie has a better sense of adventure than the others. I don't know why but we explore more.  Good thing we do since we have found a few new places to explore and will take the others another time.

Our first stop was a beach that was sandy but also had vast areas of flat rocks that were uncovered since the tide was out.  Callie was happy with the seaweed.

Action shot!

As we walked further along, the rocks flattened out.

There were small holes and interesting patterns from the water.

We left this beach and found another that was all sand.

Just another fun day at the beach!