dog days of summer

 oh the dog days of summer..... lazy, sultry and still. Petunia and I like to lay around a lot.... she just keeps getting chubby and I'm bored. My sister always lays down with me. She grabs my feet while I try and sleep and announces to the world that my feet smell like Frito's. What the heck is a Frito and it must be good or she would stop snuffling my feet all the time!

If you stare up at the sky during a summer night (while biting at the mosquitoes) you can see two dog constellations, Canis Major and Canis Minor. The big dog (Canis Major) has a very bright star called Sirius, that rises and sets with the summer sun. Ancient Romans believed that this star helped to contribute to the very hot days in July when due to the rotation of the earth, Sirius appears next to the sun for the period of July 3 through August 11th, the "dog days". How connected the sun looks with Sirius really depends where you are viewing it on earth..... wild, I think I need a nap!  

tata for now

summertime and destruction

Wow the summer is flying by! My mom took all the kids plus one down to the Bahamas to finish a photography project which left dad and me to hang. Boy was I bored. It's not that dad isn't fun.....just really busy all the time. In the early morning he would read the newspaper or surf the web and I would travel around the house bringing him "things". I was trying to get his attention but man when he is concentrating forget it. Finally he would look down when the pile next to him grew hard to ignore. He finally figured out it was my breakfast time, or I needed to go outside to pee....mom never forgets!

So dad spent a lot of time at the new SAVES hospital, which meant so did I! I was left to myself when he was busy seeing a sick patient, not a good idea. Not sure what the big deal was, so I ate the computer keyboard, some pens, lots of paper, the telephone cord, the corner of a chair (I liked that the best). Dad said I graduated to a kennel when I'm at the hospital, not sure how this is a reward.

Meanwhile while the rest of the family was off exploring the world (mom called it work), dad was seeing dogs and cats with emergencies, and I was figuring out how to get out of my kennel.

Dad went and spend a couple days with the family towards the end of the week and left me with Dr. Noll and Padgett. (he sure needs to learn how to "dress down").

Everyone is home now, life is starting to get back to normal. I started "dog camp" with Charlene Swainamer at the SAVES building. Mom says it will help me be not so naughty, I think it is just plain fun meeting a bunch of pups my age and the work is more like play. Charlene is going to help me learn not to jump on people, and stop my brain from racing and not thinking much. Dr. Padgett says when she was in vet school in Glasgow, whenever they did a CT scan on a lab the doctors would joke "wow there really is a brain in there". I don't think that is very funny!

Ta ta for now!

summertime, toads, and muscle pain

Summertime is by far my favorite time of the year (that may change since I haven't experienced fall or winter yet!) I love helping my mom garden, eating deer flies, chasing ants, squishing spiders (I learned that bees should be left alone).

We spend alot of time out at the pond on these warm days. Wow there are so many strange looking creatures I have met. Some fly, some hop, some swim, some fly, hop and swim!!

Petunia and I have so much fun with the frogs in the pond. I think the frogs have fun also. We can spend hours walking around the edge and just before we can grab one, in the pond they leap. As we pass they scurry back onto the shore and wait for the next time we pass! Oh what fun.

Dad says these guys wont hurt me if I get one in my mouth but watch out for the toads. Toads are brown and have bumpy warts all over them. Luckily we don't have Bufo marinus or Bufo alvarius around here. These bad boys are found in Florida and the southwest and have known to kill a dog or cat that has gotten to close. The toads that live around here secrete a milky substance from some glands behind their eyes that irritate the mouth and can cause some irregularities with the heart. Years ago dad had a patient that had played with a toad, the dog had a very bad reaction to this secretion and my dad wasn't able to save him. Moral of the story, I am staying away from all toads!

My sister was thinking this little guy might be her prince. She is soooo strange, and look at the look on this poor little frogs face, he is definitely thinking this is no princess!

As you can see, I have gotten over my fear of water. Summertime is for splashing and jumping!

Not sure why she always grabs her face??

My brother loves football so much he EVEN plays it in the pond!

With all of this leaping and swimming a guy can get sore and achy. Humans have a hard time figuring out if we are feeling muscle aches or pains. Did you know that if your dog or cat shows any changes in normal behavior they may be trying to tell you they are in pain? Other then the obvious signs such as limping, did you know that reluctance to get up in the morning, not wanting to play, and loss of appetite can be signs that Fido is hurting?

If your dog becomes grumpy with other pets, seeks solitude instead of lying next to a housemate, or appears grouchy or irritated by those around him he may be trying to tell you he isn't feeling well. Seek out an experts advice, Dad always says "a person's first instinct has saved many a pet".

TaTa for now!