An almost anniversary

April 2-a little more than 11 months ago, Teddy arrived via American Airlines, accompanied by a goat(which fortunately didn't come home with us). I just returned from 2 weeks with Shannon, Shaun, Faith and Benjamin in Texas. The dogs stayed here, baby-sat by Jen (mostly), with a little help from Miriam and Scott. My return was hailed with excitement, since, of course in dog years I was gone, gee, what must've seemed like at least a year. Teddy was like my crew: bouncing and yapping and just like them, willing even more to work with me. Fast forward to this morning when, after our walk, I decided to pull out the agility jump, since finally I could (no snow). After Sunny and Storm did their usual jumping, I tried Teddy, but this time, instead of laying the jump down so he would only have to jump maybe a half of foot, I left it upright, trying to coax him. Normally I'd use the clicker, but God forbid, that would scare the daylights out of him, so when he quit crawling underneath, (knowing that wasn't what I wanted), he put one foot on the middle bar and I yelled "YES!!! GOOD BOY" and rewarded him. So when I tried again, he jumped...and he did several more as well. I praised him profusely and rewarded him, much to the indignation of the collies who looked like "Big hairy deal". But it IS a big deal...another HUGE breakthrough for Texas Teddy who has his license now here in Fort Erie. He has dual citizenship before Auntie Denise too!!

Typically Ted

10 months have passed since the day we went to pick up Texas Teddy and have him join our family. He has come a LONG way since that fateful flight with the goat. He wags his tail a lot, has our routine down to a science, and seems to enjoy all the attention he gets here. He walks with us and it never fails that he is completely beside himself when he knows we are either going out for a walk or a car ride. He weighs 32.7 lbs,has his teeth brushed daily as well as his coat,and has become "one of the gang". He seems to have realized Sunny is a girl which she doesn't much care for...but he is here and he has a new family....I only hope he is happy!

Texas Teddy update

With all the chaos surrounding Harley and his tooth, I forgot that Ted, who has now been with us 9 whole months, weighs 32.7 lbs. I took him to get weighed when I picked up Harley's prescription. Teddy still has his "moments", eg. rain, sounds, wind, but he is more social and just recently seems to have discovered that he is a boy and Sunny is a girl (although she wants no part of THAT and makes herself known). He walks well on a leash and can be let off for reasonable walks out the door. He has become somewhat possessive of his surroundings which is surprising since he is so meek. He makes himself comfy on the furniture as well.

Harley Harley Harley

My beautiful boy turned 12 on Jan. 24th. Then the Monday following I woke up and noticed a horrific swelling on the side of his face which looked as if a tennis ball was under the skin. I knew in my heart it was the carnassial tooth and a visit to the Vet confirmed it. On antibiotics for 10 days, dental surgery was on the agenda. Feb. 12 I took him in and all was well as were the results of his geriatric blood tests. After he was examined, I left him and later had voice mail telling me that he seemed to have suddenly developed an irregular heart beat. Since there has never been any sign of this before in 12 years, including that morning, the Vet gave Harley an EKG which showed some erratic beats. He consulted with a cardiologist who felt the EKG showed nothing and he assumed it was a combination of stress coupled with mouth pain. My Vet decided to abort the dentistry but wanted the dog in the ER overnight to get fluids via an IV. He felt Harley was dehydrating. So later that night we took him, in a snowstorm, to St. Catharine's and left him shaking and whimpering. I was in tears. We picked him up the next morning and I stayed while he got another EKG. The Vet said it was better but he was leary to do the surgery and suggested ongoing cardio exams/tests in Guelph. We discussed it and decided against it considering we felt that his being left coupled with the EKG and his being forced on his side while he fought to get up, probably caused the stress which in turn caused the heart beat irreularity. Either way, the dog is 12 and would probably drop from a heart attack if we left him. So for now, he is on antibiotics and a painkiller...for how long I don't know. And whether this will come back with a vengeance is something else we don't know. For now, our sweet Harley deserves only to live the rest of his days where he is happy...and that is right here with us.

Bunnicula

A birthday present from Barb,Larry and the Furry Friesen Family.....Harley's new baby, "Bunnicula" the Bunny. Shades of Grace Slick!!!!

Happy Birthday Harley

Tee Creek's Unknown Legend,aka Harley, is now 12 years old. My beautiful sweet handsome man turned 12 on the 24th and is doing well, which of course, is wonderful in my mind. He is the sweetest boy with the most laid back personality and I hope he is with us for a LONG LONG time!!!

Holidaze and Puppy dogs

Well, we had two full weeks of chaos what with Christmas, New Years, the kids, assorted relatives, friends and dogs, so I forgot to post that Teddy celebrated his 8 month anniversary with us on the 28th. The kids were with the dogs a lot and had a blast......although I am not too sure if the dogs had the same good time. Teddy was happy to see his "real family" but nonetheless didn't seem to be overly exuberant and was quite content to live his new life here. He has now decided our bed is fair game as well as the sofa. So Happy New Year Teddy....and now we keep moving forward.