Breeze and Elsie

Breeze continues to be fascinated with our cat Elsie (as she was with the old cat Oscar who passed away a few months ago). Now that Elsie has settled and is used to the pack, she has become a very snuggly lap cat. This works well for blind Breeze because while Elsie is lap sitting, Breeze can wander over and say hello.

found her!

If Elsie isn't on a lap, Breeze will find her, sniff her (especially her belly) and gently head butt her a few times. Sometimes Breeze will follow Elsie and in her attempts to get close, she'll accidentally step on her.  This is often followed by human advice such as, "Don't squash the cat!"

Hiker isn't too interested, she'd rather chase Gerrard.

Breeze uses her feet to hold Elsie in place so she can get a sniff.

"Hold still Elsie, I wanna sniff you!"

Through it all, Elsie is very tolerant and seems to know that Breeze won't hurt her. That other dog Forest, well, he's not as nice, at least in Elsie's opinion.

Azule's 1st Gotcha Day!

It was one year ago that we went on a long drive, stayed overnight in a hotel (we prefer camping), met the caring staff of a West Virginia Humane Society and were introduced to a deaf Australian Cattle Dog mix named Azule.

There was a Petfinder listing that I saw about a young Australian Cattle Dog who was deaf. When I contacted the Humane Society I was told how wonderful Azule was and that she had quickly become a staff favorite (I later learned that the staff feels that way about all the animals they help!).  At that time, I was also told that a local couple had expressed an interest in her and would likely be adopting her to join their Australian Shepherd.  

A couple of weeks later I received an e-mail asking if I was still interested, since Azule had been returned through no fault of hers.  Seemed that one half of the couple wasn't as willing to have a deaf dog.  Oh yes, I was still interested and a few phone calls later, we had made plans to head down to West Virginia.

I will likely never forget the enthusiasm Azule showed when we first met.  She came running around the corner and literally flew into me.  Quite the greeting! For a young deaf dog that had been turned in as a stray, she was a very happy and confident pup. She continues to have that enthusiastic outlook on life and is a very happy girl.

Life with a deaf dog has been relatively easy.  I quickly discovered that Azule is very smart and easily caught on to the outside light flashing twice as a signal to come in and when it is daylight, she will notice the other dogs heading for the door and follow.  She also quickly learned hand signals, her favorite being the signal for "up" so she can pretend she is small enough to be a lap dog.  Australian Cattle Dogs are known as "velcro" dogs due to their desire to be close to their person.  Azule certainly has that trait! She loves to be close and to be a part of everything.

It has been a wonderful year and I look forward to many, many more years of fun with my velcro girl Azule!

Tasy Tuesday - Kong stuffing

Every time that the pack has to stay home alone, they each get a Kong stuffed with part of their breakfast or dinner kibble.  In order to ensure a long lasting Kong, I have always added some canned dog food and packed it in as tight as possible (Except for Breeze. She won't work at a tightly packed Kong).  Due to the concerns of country of origin of the ingredients and also preferring a quality canned food, I found myself paying over $3.00 per can and on average, using 2-3 cans per week.  Not a huge amount of money and of course, the pack is worth it, but I thought it was time to explore other options.

For a few days we tried using natural organic peanut butter.  I was hesitant because Bill isn't too fond of peanut butter.  Then we tried dehydrated sweet potatoes and that didn't give the tightly packed Kongs that I wanted. Then when I was peeling and slicing carrots to cook for dinner and of course, handing out slices to the pack, I suddenly had an idea.  Why not cook some carrots and then put them in the blender and use that?  

So, after cooking carrots, I put them, some of the cooking water and some leftover brown rice in the blender and pureed.

pureed carrots and brown rice

Just to see the reactions, I put a small amount in each of the dog's dishes with their breakfast.  They all gobbled it up.  

The most interesting reaction was from Breeze.  She still has her moments of growling while eating and will often nose around in the dish and sometimes wander a few feet away and then back to the dish.  With only approximately a tablespoon of the carrot mixture in with the kibble (not even mixed in, just plopped on top) she ate all the kibble without wandering and there was not a sound other than the crunching and the swish of her tail wagging.  Was it the carrot mix? To test the theory, I added another tablespoon size sample at dinner.  Same thing.

So, not only have I found a way to save a few dollars, I might have also found a way to make Breeze's meal times a bit more relaxed and enjoyable.

Collar warning.

When we arrived home yesterday after our vet visits and I opened the crate in the car to get Azule and Brook out, I realized that Azule didn't have her collar on.  I know she had it on when she got into the crate because she was leashed coming out of the vet's office.

I am a firm believer in restrained dogs in the car for their safety and having a wire style crate in the car allows them to see out and also has great air flow.

If you have ever used a wire style crate, you no doubt have seen the warning about removing the dog's collar for safety, that is printed on the plastic tray liner. I've seen it many times. Not much of a concern for us I always thought, since none of the pack wear collars at home.  

They do however, all wear collars when we go out and they are crated in the back seat of the car.  But I'm right there in the front seat. If anything happened, I would know. Right?  WRONG!

This is where I found Azule's collar.  Hanging near the top of the crate.

I was driving and oblivious to this happening. She never made a sound.  What scares me is that she could have choked and I wouldn't know until it is too late.  I still feel sick and on the verge of tears when I think about what could have happened.

We're getting new, tagless collars for the car crate. 

Azule and Brook

It was time for deaf Azule's yearly check and her heartworm test so I decided to take blind and partly deaf Brook along for her heartworm test too. As we often do when going to the vet, we combine the trip with other things since the vet is located in the big city, about a 45 minute drive each way.

In between our errands, we had time to visit a trail which is along a river.  Years ago, I lived very close to this trial and walked it many, many times with Cairo.  It was nice to visit it again.

Due to the rain we've been having lately, all waterways are high and fast moving so being off leash was not an option.

We did find a calmer spot and Brook wandered in but got a bit scared when she stepped in a deep spot.  

No harm done and we continued to explore.

Azule wore her West Virginia bandana and Brook wore her bright pink one.

In the background, the trial continues along and there is a low wooden walkway over the river and under the six lane highway.  On this visit we didn't have enough time to walk that far but will the next time.

Azule's check up went very well and her heartworm test, as well as Brook's, was negative.

Signs of spring!

We've been having some nice warm and sunny weather mixed with a day or two of cold and rain.  When possible, we have been making the most of the warm days and getting outside which got me to thinking about the signs of spring in our yard.

It's time to get the garden planned (even though I hope we're moved before harvest time) and get the seeds planted so we have nice little plants for the garden in a few weeks.

"This smells interesting"

Breeze did a great job of knocking over the pots, sticking her nose in the various seeds and into the bag of potting soil.

"What is all this doing here?"

Bill wandered over to see what was going on and then Forest seemed to appoint himself guardian of the seeds.

"Don't nobody touch these seeds!"

Other signs of spring are the pack hanging out under their fort.

Breeze: "Come out, come out wherever you are!"

Also on top of the fort.

Hiker and Azule are still on the hunt for the elusive critters and are now concentrating their efforts near the shed.

We know that it is officially spring when when we see this:

Only on warm spring (and later, hot summer) days does Hiker lay on the cement by the side door. For me, this is what got me thinking that spring has really arrived.

Wordless Wednesday

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