Author: frodopon

Ballet

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It’s February 7 and according to the crazy calendar, it’s Ballet Day.  A day to celebrate that elegant, classical, graceful style of dance.

Nobody in this household is THAT graceful.  Certainly not my human – who with the recent icy walking conditions looks more like Frankenstein as she plods along with us.  She’s about as far removed from a graceful ballerina as I am from being an obedience champion. 
Now when I searched for dogs and ballet, I came up with an assortment of photos and even a few videos of dogs dressed in tutus.  Thank GOODNESS they don’t sell them at the Dollar Store.  That would be a totally justifiable reason for running away.  At least until mealtime.
I searched and found the odd poodle prancing around on their hind legs dressed in appropriate attire.  Entertaining maybe. If you enjoy watching tortured dogs.
But THEN, I found THIS video.  We have talked before about the sport of canine freestyle – which is basically a human and dog, dancing together.  They always have a freestyle exhibit at Crufts- and some of the routines are amazing.  I believe I posted one last year.  
Many freestyle routines are set to fairly upbeat music.  But with  this video we have what I think is a great example of dog ballet.  Check it out – it is lovely!
I’m amazed at how the dog knew what to do without even watching her human!!! They were sometimes facing the opposite direction.  I don’t know what to do even when I can SEE my human.  Well – I do if I can see a treat.   
So that’s my cultured posting for today.  Tomorrow we’ll probably be talking about poop.  I like to mix things up.
Have a good one. Peace and paws up.
Seizure free days: 5

The new human toy

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Heaven help us.  She has a new toy…

A parcel arrived yesterday afternoon.  It was a retirement gift for my human from her good friend Janet.  And I used to like Janet.  JUST KIDDING.  I still do.  But the gift is for taking photos.  So you know what THAT means…
The gift is a Lensball.  And it is NOT the kind of ball we dogs can play with.  It’s made of glass.  And it’s quite heavy.  What you do is take photos through the ball.  So you get these cool images- depending how you position the ball.  
So you know my human had to try it out last night.  We couldn’t try it outdoors yesterday- because it was raining.  Indoor shots are tricky with the lights, but yours truly was the first willing subject.  Well- I HAD to try first or I would have been crying in the other room.  Screaming actually.  So we went into the garage aka grooming torture palace aka photo studio to try it out.  My human kept giving me treats as she attempted to figure it out.  She has not quite mastered the technique-but she is getting the idea. Here are a few shots -two of me and one of Einstein.  She didn’t attempt the FG.  Yet.

If you Google Lensball you can see all kinds of photos. Some of the landscape shots are pretty cool. 

I actually didn’t mind taking these shots.  These and the 543 you didn’t get to see.  They required no Dollar Store attire- and the treats were good.  It’s all about those treats those treats those treats…
So thanks Janet.  I actually had a ball…
Have a good one. Peace and paws up!
Seizure free days: 4

When in doubt, hit the ground

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Yesterday we got my human up at 5.  She took us out, fed us, had her breakfast and went back to bed after I had my medication at 7.  I think we have a new routine.

She spent the better part of the day cleaning out her email.  Really.  It took hours and hours.  In dog time it was probably equivalent to three days.  She finally finished mid afternoon and then announced that she needed to get groceries.  And one of my medications.  So she abandoned us for about 2 hours. When she returned, she announced that she was taking the FG up to the golf course for a long walk.  He needed it- he was walking around squeaking.  So off they went.
Now you need to keep in mind that we had icy weather for quite a few days and then the day before yesterday, we had about an inch or two of snow to cover the ice.  Yesterday the temperature was just above freezing-so the ice was now slushy.  In spots.  Some areas were deceiving- they were solid ice- so she had to tread slowly with the FG.  Slow is not a favorite word in his vocabulary, but he IS getting better.
As they made a loop and were heading for home, you KNOW she had to take a few photos.  The FG planted himself on a rock and was surveying the surroundings as my human got down on one knee to take the above photo.  And all was FINE – until she decided to toss a branch to get his attention.  BIG mistake.  He jumped off the rock and before my human could stabilize herself, he was off.  She of course, dropped the leash.  And he was GONE.  The frenzied gazelle with the leash in his mouth ran around the bend in the path and was out of sight.
My human couldn’t run after him – for fear of hitting an ice patch – so she hid, praying he would come back.  And probably 30 seconds later, he did just that.  But he knew she was hiding – so he stayed in the middle of the fairway- well out of catching distance.  He spotted her and raced across the fairway.
And then she did the only thing she could think of.  She lay down in the snow.  And just looked at him.  He in turn lay down on the other side of the fairway on a hill.  Watching her.  She pretended she was crying.  He just watched.  She could just picture what this scene looked like.  She’s watching him and he’s watching her.  It seemed like hours went by – but it was probably two minutes.  And she didn’t want to get up because she KNEW he would take off.  Her pants were starting to get wet.  But she didn’t want to move.  And he just kept watching. 
Suddenly he got up.  “Uh oh” she thought.  But he didn’t take off- he came racing at her like a freight train.  When he landed on her he nearly knocked off the new glasses she just got last week.  He jumped on her, kissed her, and was SO crazy she had a hard time getting up!  But she was THRILLED.  She would rather have a concussion from him jumping on her than one from falling as she chased him.  Go figure.  She just needs to start wearing a helmet when she walks him.
After the reunion- they continued home. Then she got to take Einstein and me out – but we just did a loop of our property- and we didn’t take off because we knew it was supper time. 
So that was our Monday.  Today Ludwig has to go in for some service because of some kind of recall.  I think she should take us with her – so the service guys do the job really quickly. We’ll see…
Oh.  And by the way.  The rodent SAW HIS SHADOW- so he raced back into his house.  Which means 6 more weeks of winter.  Meanwhile, his colleagues elsewhere forecasted an early spring.  I’m not too worried.  According to one source, these overgrown squirrels have a forecasting accuracy rate of 37%.  We PONs are MUCH better than that!
Have a good one.  Peace and paws up.
Seizure free days: 3

Dogs sell

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Well the Super Bowl is over.  You know- that big day when guys play a game where they smash into each other causing concussions- and LOADS of people sit around and watch.  And people forget about their no carb no sweets diets and fill up on every junk food imaginable.  Good times.

Besides the entertainment at halftime, lots of people watch the game for the commercials- which happen like every 5 minutes.  And because we know everybody LOVES dogs – there were a number of commercials featuring canines.  Dogs sell. So here are some of those ads – leading up to my personal favorite:
A serious one.  For serious dog products.  We need these:
Then we have one where the dog is just a tiny part of the ad.  Not my favorite.
We have this one that pokes fun of dog shows – and people who resemble their dogs:
We dogs shouldn’t really EAT avocados.  We could get an obstruction if we eat the seed.  That ad was OK, but not my favorite.
Budweiser always seems to feature dogs.  And of course their horses.  I actually like this one – gotta love the song too.
But MY personal favorite is this one.  The dog steals the ad.  Make sure you watch the whole thing.  Somehow I can see my human in this ad…
It’s Monday.  My human didn’t work on Mondays so the fact that she is home with us today seems like any other Monday.  Friday was a university holiday- so that  felt typical too.  But tomorrow when she stays home – that’s when we really start to see what this retirement is all about!  It’s a concept that won’t be hard to sell to us!
Have a good one.  Peace and paws up!
Seizure free days: 2

Paper money

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On this day in 1690, the colony of Massachusetts issued the first paper money in the Americas. Apparently paper money was used in China as far back as the 7th century. Before 1690, in the Americas, people used shillings and other coins as currency. 

Paper money as we now know it, can be very appealing to us canines.  And not because want to go shopping.  Some of us find it palatable.  There are numerous stories on the net of dogs eating bills – a Golden Retriever in Colorado was reported to down 5- $100 bills.  A multi-breed dog in Florida ate 10- $100 bills.  Talk about good taste.  In both of these cases, the humans were able to get a refund.  The first family “waited” for their return, cleaned off what remained of the bills and got the money back.  If I was the telller at the bank I wouldn’t count it.  I would just trust the people and give them their cash.
In the second case, the family had a more immediate return by getting the dog to vomit with some hydrogen peroxide.  That worked well. 
One source said that in the US, if over 50% of a bill is intact, the treasury will replace it.  Some sources say that the serial number must be present.  
Beamish, the Labrador that Einstein knew as a puppy, once grabbed a $50 bill my human had left on the counter – to pay someone for some lottery tickets. Not such a good bet.  She rarely carries cash anymore these days- and given my attraction to things like rolls of toilet paper and dryer lint, she never, ever leaves money or her wallet accessible to yours truly.
We had a lazy day yesterday.  My human wanted to keep an eye on me.  Thankfully I didn’t have a cluster of seizures in a 24 hour period.  Just that one.  I must say we ARE getting a bit bored because with the ice, we haven’t gone for very long walks.  With any luck it will be better today. Oh – and just so you know, we still get my human up at 5AM.  Carpe diem!  Mind you, she does go back to bed after we have been out and fed. We just want her to enjoy EVERY minute of her newfound freedom!!!
Have a good one!  Peace and paws up!
Seizure free days: 1

Ugh

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Back to the drawing board.  While my human’s first day of retirement started out GREAT – she went out for breakfast with Joanie, who was in town- and they had a great time, it quickly went downhill from there…

It began with a kitchen disaster.  She decided to try making some Baileys Irish Cream – something for humans but clearly not for us dogs as it contains alcohol.   And chocolate.  She was making the recipe to celebrate her retirement. The recipe calls for some heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate syrup, whiskey, vanilla and instant coffee.  You put it in a blender and mix it up.  We watched as she created the concoction.  But here’s a hint.  Never leave a spoon, by accident in the blender and turn it on high.  There was a clunk and the side of the blender cracked and suddenly the sticky potion began pouring out everywhere.  Her first thought was to get us OUT of the kitchen – for fear we would start lapping up the chocolaty substance now pouring onto the floor. She rounded us up and put us in the front hall, while she went to clean the disaster.  And it WAS a disaster.  A sticky disaster.  On the wall, the counter, the cupboard, the floor….A total mess.
She was almost through when she heard a telltale bang and Einstein immediately began barking.  Yup.  I had a seizure.  She rushed in, but couldn’t let anyone into the kitchen as she KNEW we would continue the clean up.  That was all she needed – dogs devouring chocolate and alcohol.  She somehow managed to whisk Einstein and the FG onto the deck, while she took yours truly outside.  She then fed me because after a seizure I am 100x more hungry than I normally am.  Picture that.  While I was literally inhaling my food, she was rushing to finish the clean up.  
We are obviously disappointed with another seizure.  And there is really no explanation why.  I am getting my meds, eating the same food, and following my regular routine (although the CBD oil I am currently taking IS from a different supplier).   I think we need to increase this dosage.  It is so frustrating and disappointing. 
I almost hate to write about it – because really- who wants to read bad news?  But we share everything – so there you have it.  Please send good thoughts .  Oh – and thanks for clicking – you paid for my CBD oil for last month!
On to other news…
Today the groundhog will give us his forecast and will tell us if we will have an early spring or 6 more weeks of winter.  Given that he is not held accountable for his forecast, he can decide whatever he wants. If goes back in his house because he sees his shadow – it means more winter.  No shadow means early spring.  Honestly, he is probably just as accurate as the weather guys.  My human laughs at long range forecasts – given that their accuracy for the short term is probably 50-50.   Want a reliable forecast? PONs aren’t going out – it’s raining. Human won’t go out?  It’s icy. The FG is not a reliable forecaster- he’ll go out in anything.
If you believe in rodent forecasts, I wish you a cloudy day.   Otherwise I wish you sunshine!! But don’t put away those boots.  Just in case…
Have a good one. Peace and paws up!
Seizure free days: 0

The Labrador

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My human is officially retired. She only came home with two large boxes and a couple of grocery bags full of stuff that will likely sit in the garage for at least a year without ever being opened.  And THEN maybe she will rid herself of the contents.  We could do it well before then.

When she got home, we ran into the garage and then out to the side yard pen to pee.  No long walks on the luge run- we had snow, then rain, then freezing temperatures and finally a dusting of snow – to cover the ice on the luge run.
 As we raced out to pee, one of us immediately noticed the new boxes and had to give everything a thorough inspection- the FG.  He had to sniff and examine everything- he could have a job working for customs.  He doesn’t miss a thing.  
Besides the boxes…she brought home “the Labrador.”  And like everything in this house- it has a story.  The Labrador is a 40×59 inch poster of a dog food ad that my human “obtained” at Crufts in 2002.  The show was over- and she had admired the yellow lab ad – because she owned a yellow lab at that time, named Beamish.  She somehow managed to get one of the posters – and somehow managed to roll it up and get it home.  She then asked her “ex” to take it to a framing place- to see if it could be mounted on a foam core backing.  There was a bit of a mix up – and somehow the poster got mounted on a huge board. – making it rather heavy, and its transport not so easy.  At that point, my human calso realized she really had no place in the house for this new lab.  So- it went to her office. And when her office was relocated twice, the movers carefully moved the lab to each location.
The lab is actually pretty cool – he’s a mosaic made of little  photos.  He proved to be an excellent conversation starter.

So now, thanks to a friend’s truck the lab is home.  In the garage.  I think he may be looking for a new home.   He may have to go into rescue….
Today we will be sure to keep the my human busy on her first day off. This is going to be such great fun!
Have a good one.  Peace and paws up:
Seizure free days : 8

The last day

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Today is the day.  My human’s LAST official day of work.  She will still be doing SOME work from time to time – but the daily trip into the office will now end. 

My human feels happy and sad about this decision.   Happy for her newfound freedom.  Well – she’s not TOTALLY free – she still has US to keep her more than busy.  And we can be a full time job.  But she will be able to do things that she hasn’t had time for in many years.  And she looks forward to that adventure.

At the same time – she is sad – because she will miss the many wonderful people she has met in her career.  My human worked as a Speech-Language Pathologist and she worked for most of her career with adults who have aphasia.  Aphasia is a communication problem that results after someone has a stroke or brain injury.  I have actually written about aphasia before – so if you need a refresher, you can read about it here:

https://viktorsviews.blogspot.com/2015/06/aphasia.html

If we converted her many years of work into dog years she has worked for over 250 years!  That’s crazy.

But my human loved her work.  She loved teaching graduate students and working with colleagues.  But most of all – she loved the patients she had the honor of working with.  They inspired her.  They motivated her.  They made her laugh and ocassionally they even made her cry.  She learned something from each and every one.  And she admired their resiliance…

She also learned so much from the family members and friends of the individuals with aphasia – who shared in the aphasia journey.   It wasn’t always an easy road for them either.  

In the end,  she hopes that she was able to make their journeys with aphasia a little bit easier…

So onward to the next chapter.  My human has new roads to explore – and we’ll be there to guide her on her path.   And don’t you worry- we’ll be sure that she never gets bored!
Have a good one. Peace and paws up.
Seizure free days: 7

Fala la la la

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January 30. And today is the birthday of the 32nd President of the US – Franklin D. Roosevelt.  I’m not a political dog (!) so I won’t go into FDR’s policies or any of that – but I WILL tell you that he owned a dog – Fala, who was a VERY famous presidential dog and is THE only dog to be represented in a presidential memorial!  

Yup – Fala, was a Scottish Terrier -and close sidekick to the president.   Fala was a WELL behaved dog – who traveled to many places with the President and had a huge following in the press.  Mind you – there was one scandal involving Fala, when it was reported that FDR mistakenly left Fala behind on a trip to the Aleutian Islands – and he spent millions in sending the Navy back to get Fala.  FDR even addressed this “fake news”  in an address to the public:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Cdz-Zbsw2g

Here’s a great summary story all about Fala and FDR:

 https://barkpost.com/life/world-leaders-their-dogs/

So as I said, I won’t comment on FDR or his policies – but clearly he must have been a half decent guy to have such a loving companion who missed him so much when he was gone….  Happy birthday Mr. President.  He would have been 137. 

Hey – I FORGOT to tell you about something great when they had my human’s retirement party from work last week.    They had a lovely dinner for her and gave her several gifts – two very nice books AND a substantial gift certificate.  And WHERE was the gift certificate to you might ask.  And if you didn’t, I’ll still tell you.  No – not a jewelry store.  Not a book store or a clothing store.  Thankfully NOT the Dollar Store.  Nope – not a restaurant.  Do you know WHERE the gift is for?  The PET store.  Seriously – is that not THE best gift ever?    I guess her colleagues at work heard that she has dogs.  The multiple photos and the breed calandars in her office were no doubt a BIT of a giveaway.  And the fact that she talks about us once in awhile.  Cough.  Cough.  Anyway – that gift is VERY much appreciated and will be put to GOOD use!!!!!!

One more day of work for her tomorrow…..counting hours now….

Have a good one.  Peace and pawsup.
Seizure free days: 6

Happy birthday

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It’s a special day!! And I mean special in a GOOD way- not in a weather way.  It’s Einstein’s birthday!!!!!

My older brother turns 9 today.  9!!!!! When did that happen?!  
But Einstein is a young 9.  Heck – he just became a father in November!  So his swimmers are still swimming.  And if you didn’t know his age, you would swear he wasn’t a day over 5.
And speaking of his offspring, Indi, who now goes by Ginny, has gone to her home in Winnipeg- and she is reportedly settling in just great.  She  has an older sister – a Wheaten Terrier who initially kept waiting for Ginny to go home – but now they are getting along just fine.  She has experienced snow and she supposedly doesn’t mind it one bit.  She travelled well on her flights.  OK – she cried during the first flight but did fine on the second.  I have no idea how they managed to fit that big girl under a seat.  She must have been folded up like Gumby.  Mind you, her father can fit in THE most awkward places and then will sleep there.  So no wonder she fit under the seat.
Einstein is looking forward to some extra treats today – and being the generous big brother that he is, he will no doubt share them with us.  He better.
So cheers to my bro.  I still like to chew your ears, lick your paws and attempt to throw you to the ground outdoors.  But just so you know – you ARE my hero…
Oh – and by the way – you are absolutely THE most cooperative photo model. Ever.  



Have a good one. Peace and paws up.
Seizure free days: 5