Retired Pro Athlete Waiting At the Bridge

Grandma is here.  I am not sure what a Grandma is but I think she is great.  Probably the smartest human I  have ever trained!

She notices everything and keeps her eyes on me always.  Yesterday morning, I had her feeding me cheese on her plate in about 2 minutes.  This is the hardest trick I know how to teach.  Daddy has never learned it and always yells, “No Nixon” whenever I try to teach him it.  The Mommy gets it sometimes but is still not reliable if there are any distractions.

Cookie is not a good human trainer but I think she will learn a lot from working with Grandma.  Cookie is very loud and can ask for too many things at once.  I find that steady eye contact is more effective than barking at them.  When the human does the trick, you also have to shower them with praise so they know they did good.  They really enjoy hugs, gentle kisses, and most like full body contact so leaning on them is important.

So here I am, on a fine July afternoon,  hunkered down in the hallway because we have a horrible thunderstorm and NOT celebrating 15 months post amp.  Yes, it is my ampuversary and no party!

We are in the purple.

I have been told there will still be chicken tonight.  I will try to grab a biscuit but they tell me low carb is better for me.  Cookie ate a half dozen a couple of months ago.  She stole them and did not share.  I do not counter surf at all.  I ask politely because I am civilized.

So stay safe and out of the heat.  I still have to report on the how greyt the Virgina Pawty was.  My typist has herself spread too thin.

I hate to bring bad news about a friend but hearts are breaking and sharing can help.  A friend of mine, an afghan named Butters, crossed the bridge.  She turned twelve on April 17 and then suddenly, drastically, slowed down starting on Sunday.  The vets ran lots of tests and think she had pancreatic cancer that had spread to her lungs.   They tried supportive therapy for a day and her condition continued to get worse.  She started having lots of trouble breathing.   With a heavy heart, her mom helped her across the bridge.

Butter, in her puppy cut for the summer.

Miss Butter in the snow this winter.

I did not realize I had neglected my blog.  After Happy Hannah got her wings, so did a bunch of my greyhound friends here in NC.  All from osteo.  🙁 

Summer has hit NC and the humidity is just gross.  There were horrible thunderstorms all night long so me and the humans had a long night.  Cookie just sulked.  I am on sedatives now for the storms and they help but I still have accidents in the house.  And shake violently from fear.

Once the humans were awake again, we hit Wendy’s for a cheeseburger, plain, no bun to celebrate 14 months post amp.  I think I should have had two or three.  Maybe more.  Or a meat cake.

My life is pretty normal.  Have not really had much to blog about.  I am fit and feeling good.  We go to parks a lot.  There are rumors of a road trip to Richmond a week from Sunday but no one has given me any details yet.

Cookie turned 8 on May 30 and there was no cake or shopping trip.  Something about a trip to NY.  Then the evil mommy went away.  For days.  We found her wandering alone in the backyard.  I am not sure if she even recognized us.  We could smell other family members who we only see once a year on her but they were no where in sight.  I need to keep a better eye on the mommy.  I think she gets lost easily.  She says her nose does not work and she is getting glasses tomorrow.  Poor human.  She looked very tired too.

Don’t worry, we’re all good.  Cookie has not been herself since right before Easter.  The lawn service showed up that week because things were starting to look pretty wild.  A freshly mowed lawn is a lot of fun.  Cookie was so happy she ran laps in the backyard.  Our fence is only 50 feet wide and she was going as fast as she could.  She wiped out but got up and did it again.  And wiped out again.

She was sore but didn’t seem to mind anything being manipulated so no trip to the vet.  Then a week passed and she was getting worse.  She was refusing to take the stairs and didn’t want to go on walks.

The humans tried to get her in on Friday but the vet couldn’t see her until yesterday.  On Friday night, there was a thunderstorm.  I was having a rough time, running around like a lunatic, and I ran upstairs to poop in the office.  While the humans were cleaning up and trying to calm me down, Cookie got into the trash.

She ate a bunch of plastic wrap and got herself sick.  The humans didn’t realize she ate the plastic wrap until Cookie’s stomach said that this didn’t belong there and sent it back out.  Well, most of it.  Then my humans had to be on poop patrol and late Sunday night, the rest of it came back out.  Cookie’s feeling like a new hound.

We went to the vet yesterday morning and I was just my charming self.  While they were taking Cookie’s symptoms, I trained the vet tech to give me a cookie with just eye contact and a tail wag.  She’s a quick study and I had a treat in a matter of seconds.  I am so proud of her!  Normally, they make us wait until after the visit to get a treat.

When Dr. Huff came in, I kissed him all over.  I do like him but I love him when he’s not treating me.  Cookie was very upset and kept hugging the ground.  I stood close to her for support but she just kept hugging the ground.  Finally, to get her up, they opened the door and she jumped right up.  She fell for this trick twice.

Cookie has some pain meds, chiropractic, and we’ll be doing xrays of her back and hips next week, once she is in less pain.  She is already feeling much better though and going up the stairs again.  I may be getting xrays next week too.  On May 10, I will be 13 months post amp and we’ll have to decide if we continue to do xrays every 3 months.

My pictures for December are finally in!  We’ll be doing another round of photos soon.  All photos were taken by Monkey See Photography.

On April 10, 2013 I joined the elite tribe of tripawds.  There were some interesting and exciting hurdles to overcome.  With lots of love and support (thanks ruffwear) there is nothing I cannot do prior to my amputation.  It may not be pretty, but I can do it.

I am now a two story dog.  With assistance.  I never learned how to go down a set of stairs with 4 legs and I fell down the 8 rubber covered backyard steps twice with injuries so I understand my humans reluctance to let me try the 15 carpeted steps inside.

And then spring came and the thunderstorms came too.   The first time I went up the stairs, the baby gate was open.   The second time, it was a really bad storm and I jumped over the baby gate to find my sleeping humans.  Yes, they were really surprised!  The baby gate is just a suggestion really that I politely observe.

After that, they just put my webmaster on me and take me upstairs for the night.  The pack is reunited again.

My humans found me a personal trainer who will come to the house.  Although I am in excellent shape, especially for my age and years in retirement, Cookie is getting a bit fluffy.  I have hinted that she should get a workout program too.  Now that she is starting to show some rear toe dragging and lots of reads during her Chiropractic appointments, the humans have agreed.

Hopefully we will start that next week.

So a year ago, I had one of my worst weeks ever. But that was then and Today was greyt.
Cheeseburgers, my humans worked from home so the whole pack was together, and a quick walk in the evening.

So tonight I needed something a little different with my dinner. I was given some sardines but that wasn’t yummy enough so I got some plain Greek yogurt added. Quite tasty actually.

We have been stuck indoors since Saturday and finally just walked in the rain this morning. I am getting faster. On Saturday, I did .5 mile in 15 minutes. Today I walked .94 mile in just over 40 minutes. It was great to be allowed to stretch my legs!

So last night, we wanted Bojangles for dinner but were denied.  The Jedi mind tricks are not working for some reason.Just one piece of chicken to SHARE.  We had to split it and then dinner was just kibble and plain Greek yogurt.  No sardines either.

Both humans are stuck working today, the first nice day we have had since Monday.  Our friends are posting pictures on Facebook of their trips to the park this morning but we are just hanging out.  It is too wet outside for Sun bathing.  We are working on the guilt trip states so we get a walk tonight.  As long as the weather holds out, I am positive I will be peeing on the neighborhood mailboxes shortly after sunset.