Viktorsviews. The Next Chapter.

Confetti.

June 3, 2018Leave a Comment

One would think that if one was owned by an 8 year old dog, a six year old dog and a two year old dog, that one would not find that said dogs would engage in childish, make that puppyish, pranks. Not so much in this house…

My human is on this new decluttering kick. It will no doubt last for a week, and then she’ll go on to some other novel craze. Like cooking with kale (which she really doesn’t like) or learning how to knit with fishing line. In other words, another futile endeavor. Anyway, on Friday night she decided to clean out the disaster that some might call a garage. I prefer grooming torture palace. Besides housing a raised bathtub to bathe us canines, the garage is also the repository for assorted dog crates in every size from Chihuahua to Great Dane, a cupboard full of tools she doesn’t know how to use, another cupboard full of paint cans that no doubt contain paint from the LAST house she lived in, assorted gardening tools including the wheelbarrow with the flat tire, the electrical cord for the generator she no longer has (because it died), bins full of Dollar Store holiday attire for us dogs, an assortment of folk art animals that make one feel as if they are entering a zoo, and now some furniture that she plans to sell because she obtained more furniture from her mother’s apartment – and we have no room for all of it. So she is keeping her mother’s stuff and selling the furniture that comes complete with dog scratches. Good luck with that. Anyway, it is nothing short of a miracle that the car fits in there. So the other night she went into the disaster zone to take pictures of some items to sell. And she REALLY wasn’t in there all that long. She took her photos, rearranged things, straightened up a bit and came back in the house. And that’s when she discovered that there had been a party going on while she was literally in the next room. The evidence of the party included confetti. Everywhere. SOMEONE, who shall remain nameless, had taken some newspaper that was on the counter, and decided to help with the recycling effort. It was shredded. Everywhere. A very puppyish prank. And you KNOW what she immediately said. The ridiculous “Who did this.” As IF one of us would raise our paws to confess. As she went to pick up the numerous pieces, I decided to do something. I decided to help. Not that this was by any means an admission of guilt, but rather an attempt to clean up the mess. I helped by picking up pieces and eating them. “Stop!!!”she shouted, I don’t need your help”. But I was trying to grab them faster than she could pick up. She was crawling under the dining room table trying to grab tiny pieces before I could get them. Personally, I thought it was a great game….

She has listed on-line some of the items in the garage. She threatened to put our pictures on there too. Funny. Very funny. Seriously- WHAT would she DO without us?! I think her life would be pretty boring….

Have a good one. Peace and paws up!

Seizure free days:16

Talk to the animals. And bugs.

June 2, 20181 Comment

So here is a new interesting study. Do you want to know how to keep the attention of a dog? Speak to us using DDS. That stands for dog directed speech. What is it? It’s the annoying higher pitch speech that humans use with babies. Basically baby talk. It seems that some researchers in the UK wanted to see if puppies and adult dogs would respond with more attention to DDS rather than a typical, standard tone of voice. Seems puppies responded to anything the researchers said using DDS. Adult dogs also responded to it, but only if the vocabulary used was familiar- like “walk “ or “treats.” So they concluded that we dogs like the sound of it. My human doesn’t tend to use DDS with us. Probably because half the time she is shouting at us. Truth be told, we rarely listen UNLESS she has a treat in hand. Then she can talk to us in any manner she wants, and we will definitely be more responsive. Hence the treat crumbs in the pockets of every outfit she owns.

We have finally had some hot days lately. My human can’t leave the screen door to the deck accessible to us because we will basically knock it out of the frame. So the night before last, she just left it wide open for a bit. The only problem… it is June. And June means one thing. June bugs. These giant beetle creatures that come out at night and throw themselves at windows. They are attracted to light. My human can’t stand them – so when we go out for our last pee of the night, she won’t turn on the outside light. For fear we wouldn’t be able to open the door without letting one in. Well hello? If you leave the deck door open, what do you think will happen?! Yup. She woke up yesterday morning, but before she put her glasses on, she spotted something on the floor. Thank GOODNESS she didn’t step on it in her bare feet! Yup. It was one of those foot long giant June bugs. OK. Not really a foot- but at least 1.5 inches. She didn’t know WHAT to do with him. He was in the DFZ so we couldn’t get him- but she didn’t want to squish him – ugh- what a mess that would make. So what to do? Vacuum him. At 5 in the morning. Then she had to empty the contents of the vacuum outside in the recycling bin. Problem solved. Maybe my human should have just talked to the June bug using BDS – bug directed speech and she could have coaxed him out . Mind you, she did use some unique vocabulary when she sucked him into the tornado.

Have a good one! Peace and paws up!

Seizure free days: 16

Choking. About resolutions.

June 1, 2018Leave a Comment

June 1. And according to the crazy calendar it is Heimlich Maneuver Day. I was going to write about using the technique with dogs – but I found this video that sums up what you need to know:

https://www.petmd.com/dog/emergency/common-emergencies/e_dg_choking

Thankfully my human hasn’t had to use this on any of her dogs – but it IS good to know.

Today is also New Year’s Resolution Recommitment Day. So I decided to look back to see what I had promised I would do. And low and behold…I didn’t promise anything! I see that for 2018, I just reviewed the most common resolutions that humans make. I reviewed them with my human today and so far the ONLY one that she has met is to quit smoking. Mind you she never has smoked. But she needed to feel like she was successful with at least one. I’m not commenting about more exercise, better diet or more sleep for her. Look – we TRY to give her more exercise. And we really can’t do anything about what she eats. OK. OK. We COULD help out more with the sleep part by not waking her up in the middle of the night for no reason. And as for the cutting-down-on-stress resolution, I thought research said that just owning a dog reduces stress. OK. Perhaps not if it is two PONs and a Picard. Not to mention the stress about worrying about my health….

Another resolution was to travel more. My human has to get working on that one. Mind you, for some odd reason when my human contacts potential dog sitters so that she can go away, nobody gets back to her. They must read my blog. I think she needs to advertise the danger pay part.

So we are entering the second half of 2018. Let’s hope for health and happiness all around. And travel. And more exercise. And good fortune. And that we don’t EVER need the Heimlich Maneuver…

Have a good one. Peace and paws up!

Seizure free days:15

FG adventures

May 31, 2018Leave a Comment

So the FG has been having some interesting adventures at the golf course lately. Besides watching geese and ducks. For example, yesterday morning he and my human were walking along one of the paths at around 5:30 AM. And the golf course has JUST started to put the sprinkler systems on now in the morning. They shoot out water and spin around. If you time things right, you can walk along the path without getting wet. BUT if you are in a hurry, because you need to get home, eat breakfast, feed three STARVING canines ( well, really two starving canines – the picky Picard is inconsistent with his appetite – as opposed to the always famished PONs), shower, dress, take all three dogs out for a second time to pee and go to work – you don’t have time to wait for spinning water sprinklers. What my human didn’t expect was that as soon as the water came down over their heads, it caused the Wild Child to literally launch himself straight up into the air in an attempt to grab the sudden downpour. My human has NEVER seen him do that. And he did it more than once. We are talking about a canine version of a rocket launcher. She WISHED she had had her camera.

Meanwhile, during his evening walk, he made friends the other day with Martin, the chef at the golf course. Martin seems to think the FG is cool. So the other day, he asked my human if the FG could have a treat. “Sure” she said. Well, let me tell you, the Picky Picard was NOT picky over barbecued chicken. Martin made a friend for life. Now the FG pulls to go and see Martin, and he even waited patiently while Martin went in last night to get him another treat of chicken. Clearly the FG is more trainable than I thought – he remembers VERY well.

Tomorrow my human has the last day of an important program at work. She then has a few weeks that will be less busy before her time gets crazy for another 4.5 week program. We are looking forward to some shorter work days for a few weeks. Not that it will stop us from getting up at 5 AM. It’s light out – so who wants to waste a perfectly good day! Besides, I think Einstein and I need to meet Martin too. We like chicken. We like anything!!

Have a good one! Peace and paws up!

Seizure free days: 14

Designer duds

May 30, 2018Leave a Comment

So. My human was reading about this on-line business in the UK that started in February. And their big thing is selling designer dog clothes. Coats and jackets, jumpers (or sweaters for people not in the UK) and hoodies, tops, t-shirts, bandanas and bow ties – you can find it all at their website…
https://www.aurorapets.co.uk/

Oh and they sell collars and other stuff too. At first I thought it was all for little dogs. But I see they offer things in size extra large. Ugh. I hope my human doesn’t get any bright ideas.

But it wasn’t their website that made ME take notice. It was an article about their company – and a person interviewed for the article who has a dog named Rocky. Rocky looks to be a chihuahua in his photo. And are you ready for this crazy bit of info… Rocky has more than 1500 outfits. Yes. 1500! Oh and by the way, Rocky also has a diamond decorated bed worth more than $2000. Hello? How do you spell spoiled? Or is the word excessive? Rocky can go for more than three years without wearing the same outfit twice. Who KNEW one could even FIND 1500 different outfits for dogs. He must have his own tailor. Better him than me. And I thought wearing the dreaded raincoat was bad. I wonder if Rocky gets to select what he wears. Like humans, he probably wears only 20 of those outfits and the rest hang in the closet. I want to see Rocky’s closet.

Meanwhile, here at the zoo, things continue to improve. We hope. Cone-head is at least not waking my human in the middle of the night. And Butt-head is not bothering him. Well, at least not as much. Please keep your fingers crossed that it continues….

Have a good one! Peace and paws up!

Seizure-free days: 14

PONdini strikes

May 28, 2018Leave a Comment

Did you know that on this day in 1937, the car manufacturer, Volkswagen was founded? We like our VW Golf, Ludwig. He’ll be 2 years old this fall and he is still like new. Although Einstein tried to destroy him the other day…

The rule in Ludwig is “No dogs in the front seat.” When we are traveling, we are put in a crate. And if all three of us are going somewhere, the FG is in a crate that is positioned across the vehicle (with the rear seats folded down, of course),and Einstein and I ride behind the crate, in an area that is still plenty big enough for the two of us. Well the other day when my human took Cone-head back to the vet, she didn’t want to put him in the crate with his head gear on. So she put him in the area behind the crate. And he rode to the vet just fine. And he stayed in the back, as we always do.

After Cone-head did his drama performance in the back room at the vet, my human put him in the vehicle while she waited for the bill to be tallied, and to get his new medication. She chatted with one of the staff people for a bit and then went to the car. And as she approached the vehicle, she could not see Cone-head through the back window. Now I should have mentioned that when the crate is positioned across the vehicle, there is very little room between the crate and the back side doors. When one opens the back side door, one can open the crate door, but there is not much room. So it is very difficult to go from the rear of the vehicle to the front seat. VERY difficult. Especially if one is wearing a cone. But remember, we are talking about Cone-head aka Einstein aka PONdini. And just like the great magician who could escape chains and handcuffs, a cone in a VW was no match for PONdini. He SOMEHOW managed to wedge himself between the crate and the back side door and was able to rid himself of the cone. He then wedged his way into the front seat. Like Gumby. Where he MUST have proceeded to lick himself like crazy, because the seat was all wet. No – not the passenger seat. The driver’s s seat.

When my human opened her door, he leaped into the passenger seat. And just stared at her. He was mighty annoyed that he had his private parts again examined and shaved. He was suffering from PTPE – post traumatic private exam – and he felt it was all my human’s fault. The wet seats covered with hair were a bit of payback.

My human actually let him ride in the passenger seat on the way home. She didn’t have the energy to put him in the back. So I believe if one was keeping score, this would be PON-1, human -0.

The good news is, that Cone-head IS seeming better. He’s not 100% – although he has not lost his appetite or his energy. And despite the fact that he KNOWS what the cone is for, he willingly puts it on every time. I’m not sure I would be so accommodating….

Have a good one. Peace and paws up!

Seizure-free days: 12

The sun

May 27, 2018Leave a Comment

May 27. It’s Sunscreen Protection Day. And did you know that just like humans, we dogs can get sunburned? AND too much sun can lead to skin cancer?! It’s reportedly most dangerous for white, short haired breeds like Dalmatians and Bull Terriers. I see that some sites claim that we coated dogs like PONs and Picards are at less risk for sunburn, but certainly areas like noses and ear tips could be susceptible to sunburn if we are outdoors all day. With dogs with fair colored noses, who are light in color with a short coat, the sun CAN definitely be dangerous, so those dogs, who are outdoors between 10-4, should probably have sunscreen applied. Sunscreen should be applied on ears and noses, around the lips and on the belly and groin area.

There are sunscreens specially formulated for dogs. Dogs should NOT use human sunscreens that contain zinc oxide or para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA). These ingredients are TOXIC to dogs if we lick the stuff. So do NOT use sunscreens with these in gredients. At all. I have NOT used this product, but apparently it is good for dogs…

http://www.epi-pet.com/sunscreen.aspx

Alternatively, if your canine kid is going to be outdoors for a long time, a body suit could be used. Oh joy. Oh happiness. Wouldn’t we just LOVE that? Humans need to be aware though, that we dogs can get heatstroke if outdoors for too long in the heat. And that’s really no joking matter. And I hate to burst the bubble for those folks who think that shaving their double coated dogs in the summer will keep them cooler. On the contrary – it can expose them more to the sun. To avoid this problem, if you must shave your dog, keep at least one inch of coat to protect your dog from the sun’s rays. I know that many PON owners DO shave their dogs to cut down on grooming and for dogs who love to swim ( which is neither PON in THIS household ) a shorter coat has less drying time, and there is less likelihood of getting a hot spot. But try to keep that one inch of coat.

Things are SLOWLY returning to “normal” here at the zoo. Although at 3AM on Saturday morning, Cone-head was feeling uncomfortable. So he started squeaking. My human took ALL of us out ( one at a time) and we each got a treat. Thanks to Cone-head for his dramatic performance. In addition, my human is now able to allow Cone-head and Butt-head to be in the same room for a longer period of time without chaos erupting. By Saturday afternoon, Cone-head was not squeaking, and Butt-head was not lunging. Things are looking up.

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.

Seizure- free days: 11

Is her luck changing?

May 26, 2018Leave a Comment

My human came home from work last night and decided that her luck is changing….

She got home and was supposed to meet the neighbors at the golf course for a meal. It was a long week (although it really was a short week- but multiple vet trips made it seem long. That and being up repeatedly throughout the nights). So she welcomed the invite to join folks for a bite.

When she got home, Cone-head was relieved of his lampshade while we went out, and for some odd reason, my human decided NOT to let me run free. Must have been that weird human intuition. Cone-head and I went out before Butt-head. We ran around to the back of the house, with me on leash, did our thing and raced back to the front door. But we heard something. A LOUD rustling in the foliage along the front of the house. My human thought it must be a bird. Cone-head heard it and had to go in the bushes to see what it was. In the meantime, my human and I were standing at the opposite end of the house. Cone-head went in and suddenly, a rabbit burst out of the bushes and literally raced within 3 feet of me and my human. I was so shocked I didn’t realize what was coming, but my brain registered pretty quickly that Mr Bunny should be chased. Cone-head was two steps ahead of me until I reached the end of the leash. Cone-head would have taken off, but my human shouted “no.” It works for Cone-head. It would NOT have worked for me. Not a chance. I would have been GONE. My human stared at the heavens and said “thank you, thank you, THANK YOU.”

Cone-head continues to moan and groan about his “condition “ and Butt-head continues his role as nurse. Which continues to result in annoying barking and lunging. But it DID seem to be a bit better yesterday. All that praying to St. Roch has paid off. ( He’s the patron saint of dogs). I think we should be praying to Saint Jude – the patron Saint of desperate cases.

It’s Saturday- time for some extra long walks. I wish all of you a cone-free day.

Have a good one! Peace and paws up!

Seizure-free days: 10

Cone-head. Part 2.

May 25, 2018Leave a Comment

And so the drama continues…

When my human went to work yesterday, we three amigos were all separated. Cone-head was in the front hall, Butt-head was in the run in the garage, and yours truly had free reign in the house. I won the coin toss. When my human got home from work, Cone-head was happily waiting in the hall, and he seemed fine. For about 5 minutes. And then the squeaking began – and it was clear he was in discomfort. Again. My human tried to get a look at the area, but he wouldn’t let her- he kept squirming. She knew that our vet would be closing in less than an hour, but she called and pleaded. The woman who answered the phone said they were fully booked, but a tech could look at Cone-head. My human said she would be there in 12 :minutes- it was better than going to the Emergency again.

My human left Cone-head in the car and went in. The waiting room was packed. I mean PACKED. But, I think because my human has frequent flier miles there, the tech was called and she immediately came out. My human had to return to get Cone-head from the car. And he was whisked in past the waiting crowds, wearing the infamous cone. Like some kind of celebrity. A celebrity wearing a lampshade.

My human didn’t go in the back with him- as she usually does, because she KNEW they were lucky to be seen at all. She could hear Come-head’s dramatic cries from the waiting area. Now before you start saying “awwwwwwwww….poor Frodo,” remember this dog screams when you brush his paws. Really. Anyway, when the tech emerged with Cone-head who was CLEARLY ready to go home, she explained that they shaved more hair in his nether regions and low and behold, his scraped jewel had a bit of an infection. Yowza. No wonder he was uncomfortable. My human figures he was crying either from the infection or the fact that he didn’t want to be shaved to have his private parts revealed for all the world to see. Good thing he isn’t entered in any dog shows any time soon.

Cone-head came home and had new medication to take. My human kept Butt-head in the hallway for some of the time – so that Cone-head would settle down.

So we’ll see how this new medication works. One thing I know for sure, when Cone-head is squeaking and he looks particularly miserable, if my human says “would you like a treat?” the moaning immediately stops. I mean totally. I realize Cone-head IS sore – but he is going to milk this as MUCH as he can. Good one, Cone-head. Go for it. He’s getting LOTS of treats. And of course, we are sharing in his misery….

TGIF!!!! Have a good one. Peace and paws up!

Seizure-free days: 9

Cone-head and butt-head

May 24, 2018Leave a Comment

So cone-head and butt-head are still at it. Those are the new names for Einstein and the FG. It is UNBELIEVABLE that I am the good dog in this household.

Butt-head continues to go after cone-head. Cone-head in turn, is so annoyed, he actually grabbed a bunch of hair on butt-head’s face, and tore it off. But not to worry – butt-head obviously was not hurt because he went right back to try again. My human immediately stepped in to end that round.

The really bad part yesterday was the fact that my human discovered that cone-head had a bunch of his hair stuck to the sore spot. IMAGINE trying to fix THAT dilemma. Honestly, if this was a reality show, everyone would think it was fake.

The squeaking by both cone-head AND butt-head sounds like living in an aviary. Last night, my human even gave cone-head a few drops of my CBD oil to settle him down. She seriously considered chugging the whole bottle herself.

Oh yes – and on top of our insanity, my human is battling ants. It’s that time of year when the pesky insects make their way through cracks in the most crazy places and they are driving my human nuts. I think it’s a good thing – it takes her mind off the battle of cone-head and butt-head. Sure it does. She has been placing ant traps in inaccessible places. Inaccessible to us dogs. Not the ants. In fact, she found ants crawling all over one. So either it is working great – or she needs some new ammunition.

Someone suggested my human needs a vacation. She actually has planned a few days away in August – only to find that our most recent dog sitter – who stayed with us in November, is no longer sitting. My human thinks we made her retire. And another potential sitter is getting married. Really – I think the marriage excuse is a bit much. OK. She is getting married like three days before my human plans to be away. Does she REALLY need a honeymoon? The newlyweds could stay here! On a lake. In the “woods.” Near a golf course. Three pleasant dogs. What more could newlyweds want?

Keep those fingers crossed that the sore on cone-head continues to heal. If he continues to complain today, he may end up at our vet’s tonight. Just for a check up. Not to stay.

And if anyone knows a good dog sitter in our area, please contact my human. She actually pays danger pay. Just kidding. Actually – no, I’m not….

Have a good one. Peace and paws up!

Seizure-free days: 8