Obstreperous

Howdy blogaroos!!! It’s me! Obstreperous Wojtek here! How’s THAT for a big word?! The Warden has started getting these “word of the day” emails- even though she’s not sure how she signed up for them. It seems innocent enough, but the next thing ya know, she’ll be getting a charge on her credit card from a dictionary company. Weird how that happens…

Anyway- she laughed at the word obstreperous yesterday – because she said I could be the photo for the definition. It means “noisy and difficult to control.” Sounds about right. Call me Obie for short.

So how the heck are you all doing now that the evergreen is out of the house and the elves have been put on a shelf in a closet? Our Tannenbaum is currently lying in the yard – after it was heaved over the deck railing. The Warden will likely be finding needles in our coats for weeks – despite her best efforts to vacuum them up. Those needles hide in weird places – like a PON hiding when he knows he’s about to get a bath….

We’re doing great with 2024 so far. I mean we made no resolutions- so we’re not feeling guilty about anything!

Sue is still here for another day or two – and we’re loving having her here. Keith departed shortly after New Years Day – so the sisters could do sister stuff. Kind of like me and my brothers. They lounge around all day and eat whenever they feel the urge. Thank GOODNESS we dogs are here to give them some exercise. I’m not seeing much resolution keeping with those two.

Let’s see. What else….

Well some good news and bad news in the world of PONs and Picards. A friend lost her PON boy, Atticus, to the same illness that the Coyote has – Lyme nephritis. We feel so badly about it. His life was not nearly long enough – but full just the same. He has left a big hole in his human’s heart….

At the other end of the circle – we have seen a new puppy enter the world of Zan’s humans. As you may recall, Zan went to the Rainbow Bridge last year. But now a new chapter has begun – with the addition of a puppy by the name of Arrow. He’s actually my nephew!!!! I hope he remembers me on Uncles Day. The Warden gets updates about him and wonders how a puppy can be so well-behaved. I think he must be drugged.

And in the Picard world, a new Picard girl has found a home in New Hampshire- after a family lost their treasured Picard, named Beau. Beau was a therapy dog and a great ambassador for the breed- and we are happy to see that Rhunarbe will be following in his paw prints. Another happy beginning.

As for our Picard, – he had a recheck at the vet the other day. Bad news: it looks like any future visits will require that the Warden bring ear protection for all the clinic staff. Did I mention that the last time he went to the vet he would not stop squeaking? Yeah – well if it didn’t seem like it could get worse – it did. Not only did he squeak non-stop – he was so loud no one could hear themselves think. They couldn’t get an accurate blood pressure reading on him because he was so stressed – even though they did it in the car before he came in the clinic. He knew where he was. Even though the Warden had tried to fool him by driving a different route. I think she needs to blindfold him.

Anyway, despite the fact that the staff likely experienced a temporary threshold shift in their hearing (like being at a loud rock concert without ear protection) – they said he wasn’t the “worst” most vocal client. The Warden thinks they said that to make her feel better. At least that’s what she THINKS they said – her ears were ringing so who knows what they said.

BUT she DID understand from the vet – through a series of hand gestures and shouts- that the Coyote is holding his own- and his urine sample was even a bit better. His weight is stable- and he’s pretty much back to eating what he did before his illness began. He is totally defying the odds. He goes back for another check up at the end of March. The Warden has some medication to give him before the visit- to hopefully calm him a bit. I still think earplugs are a good idea….

What else….

Oh! I just saw that my brother, Ollie got a great new toy. Check it out:

https://www.collieball.com/collieball

As you MAY recall, we had something “similar” in our house. BUT someone learned to pull (and rip) the outer covering – and subsequently deflate the ball until it was a large piece of rubber in a dirty ripped up cover. It wasn’t NEARLY as much fun to play with in that state.

It SEEMS that THIS ball sounds more durable. We’ll wait to see how long Ollie’s lasts. Mind you – Ollie has stuffed toys that he doesn’t decapitate – so he may not be the best product reviewer. If anyone has info on the durability of this thing, let us know.

That’s all the main news for now. We hope your 2024 has started off brilliantly. We’ll try to be a bit more diligent in our updates – but we’re not making any resolutions. I was going to make a resolution to be better behaved- but WHO would I be kidding?!

Obie signing off!

Have a good one. Peace and paws up. Stay safe. JBJ.