Sunday, August 26, 2012

Dog Shaming

Apparently I am hopping on the dog shaming train. Koira doesn't have much to shame, really. Her only real issue is her fear, which is not her fault. Well, and that she requires me to help her up on the bed and into the car despite being healthy and athletic.

Koira: "I'm afraid of Fridays"

Pallo, on the other hand, has plenty about him to shame.

Pallo: "I shoplift tennis balls regularly"

I have to check Pallo's mouth before leaving the Cat's Meow (a local thrift store whose proceeds go to Heartland Humane Society). They have a tennis ball bucket on a low shelf, and Pallo has stolen balls and walked out of the store with them before. Now I check before we leave.


Pallo: "I ate a shotgun shell, then puked it up only days after being adopted"

I think all regular blog readers have heard this story. I brought Pallo home from Linn County Dog Control and put him in isolation. He had really bad worms, and had just come from a high volume shelter with an unknown vaccine history. He basically was kenneled or leash walked on pavement (so the worms wouldn't pass to other dogs via the lawn). A few days after bringing him home, he puked up a piece of plastic that turned out to be part of a shot gun shell. Finding that solved the mystery of where the BBs kept coming from. I have to assume he passed the metal part of the casing while at the shelter, since I didn't find it and x-rays (much later, and for a different reason) showed no metal objects in his gut.

Pallo: "I poop in the flyball ring-- regularly"

And everyone knows this problem of Pallo's. Despite walking him a ton, and doing everything possible to make sure he is empty before heading into the ring, he still poops in the flyball ring. He even did it when I sent him to Canada with another handler (I even warned her beforehand about it). It hasn't happened recently at class or at a recent tournament, but I can't quite convince myself it is a problem of the past.

Monday, August 20, 2012

The Blahs

Sorry for the unannounced blogging break. It was unintentional, but I couldn't seem to get up the motivation to actually write. Even though I have taken some pictures, none of them are edited and ready to post. I'm just going to call it the blahs.

Pallo is still being all weird. He is lackluster at home. He has been having bouts of puking and diarrhea, which come, then go away again quickly. No fever, and since his full workup at the vet just happened, I am at a bit of a loss. I don't want to go in and spend even more money on being told that he is still perfectly fine. And, though he is a bit off his food, sometimes leaving some of it behind and occasionally not wanting to eat at all, he is perfectly spunky when taken out to the yard or anywhere else like the park to play.

Koira has pad burns. Again. Or still. I'm not really sure any more. It seems like she has either burned or cut her pads about once a week all summer. Flyball? Pad burns. Lure coursing? Big slice across her pad. Play at the river? Limping for a week from burns on all four feet. Play ball at the park? Nasty road rash on her stop pads. And, while it may or may not have anything to do with her paws being total crap lately, her flyball box turn is bad, and showing no signs of improvement.

And, as a nice big looming shadow over the whole summer, I am still having some serious neck issues from being injured back in June. It is hard to go out and enjoy summer when moving causes pain. And pain killers have cut up my stomach enough that I can't even take them with food anymore without getting sick. Oh, and for the record, when someone gets injured, asking "wow, you are still hurt" every time you see them is really not encouraging. I've started debating how to answer when someone asks how I'm doing, because really, how many times can you answer "hurting" before people just stop listening or stop believing you. Believe me, I would much rather be spending my summer hiking, swimming, competing in dock diving, going to flyball tournaments and practice, and just enjoying myself, than laying at home watching movies on Netflix. Nifty to do for a few hours or even a day at the end of a long week. Not so much fun for months on end.

In any case, I'm experiencing a bit of the blahs over here at the house of flyball dogs. (Can I even call them flyball dogs if neither is successfully doing flyball and we don't get a chance to compete?) I will try to keep posting as I can, but I don't like posting stuff like this. Life isn't always awesome and amazing or even just pleasant, but it isn't really fun to hear about all the bad stuff either. I'd rather leave the blog blank than post an endless number of depressed posts about how me and my dogs are injured or sick with no diagnosis.

Hope every one else is having an awesome summer. Go out there and have fun whenever you get the chance.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Fun in the Sun

As temperatures hit the 100s for the first time this summer, me and the dogs hit the river for some relief.

277. "Feeling Friday" How are you and your dog feeling today? Show us with a photo! - last day Aug 9


276. "In Black and White" Take a black and white photo of your dog today. Feel free to take creative liberties! - last day Aug 8

Everyone keep cool this weekend!