Lend me your ear

Last week, we had a problem.  Samson's ear filled up with fluid.  Aurel hematoma.  All my years with dogs and I have never heard of this.  Who knew. 

After two very painful drainings, we were left with only surgery. So Monday, Mr. Handsome went under the knife. He came home mopey and crabby, his head contained in the cone of shame. Who can blame him for being crabby?   Not me.  If you put a cone on my head, I would be crabby too. 



On the outside of the ear, our vet sutured a small piece of x-ray paper.



This keeps the ear from refilling with fluid and blood, and helps the ear heal.



It's not attractive. 



But bless his heart, he is such a trooper.  30 days that cone will cover his head. Monday we will find out what's next for our sweet Handsome boy. 

Epic

It's the only word to describe yesterday's beach day.  It was incredible.   Light ENE breezes to keep the bugs away, bright blue skies, and abundant sunshine.  I sound like the Weather Channel.

We sat on the beach most of the day.   It's always fun to see what comes our way.

Some kind of ultra light plane flew overhead.  It was loud and he was low.  Low enough to wave.

From Labor Day 2012

From Labor Day 2012

We played in the water most of the afternoon.  It was so warm ... and with our summer days coming to end, we were hard pressed to give it up.

From Labor Day 2012

From Labor Day 2012

From Labor Day 2012

We had some fun with friends. Nothing better than a good tear up and down the beach.

From Labor Day 2012

From Labor Day 2012

From Labor Day 2012

We ended our day with a lovely dinner and watched the moon rise one more time over our great Lake Huron. Nothing better than a long weekend EOTE with dear friends and wonderful neighbors.  Labor Day is really the end of the summer pace up north.  We are already looking forward to next summer.

Cheers!

Walking the beach

Walking the beach around here is magical.  We see all kinds of cool things - frogs, eagles, beach glass, herons, people jumping from airplanes - the usual.

The best part of the walks usually involve meeting someone's dog.  Yesterday it was Petra.

Petra is another rescue (according to her owners) and she is a stunning beauty.  We made the mistake of throwing her ball and well, we were there quite a while. (As wonderful as she was, I would happily still be there)

From Petra

From Petra

From Petra

From Petra

Of course, our hearts skipped a beat when we saw her. She looks so much like our Allie. Ah, sweet memories. Cheers from EOTE!

Saying goodbye

Today our dear friend Catie said goodbye to her sweet Andi.  16 years together. 

From Andi's project

Grieve not,
nor speak of me with tears,
but laugh and talk of me
as if I were beside you.....
I loved you so --
'twas Heaven here with you."

--by Ilsa Paschal Richardson

Several years ago, I was able to get some good pictures of Catie and Andi.  I am so glad that I was able to get these happy snaps. 

We know how hard this is.  In time, our grief transcended to remembrance, joy, and gratitude for all the time together.  We love you Catie.

Home for the holidays!

Yesterday during the work day, I stopped by WMRL to meet Roscoe. WMRL has a terrific program for training first responders in basic first aid for their dogs; WMRL rescues dogs from the local Humane Society and then promises to find homes for the rescued pups. That's how we found Samson. :) And the promise to find homes for these dogs is no small feat in this economy.

Roscoe is a vivacious fellow with a warm, rambunctious spirit. I went to meet him to try and help spread the word. I took my little camera to get a few happy snaps. He is a wonderful dog - handsome, sweet and just wanting a good walk. Sounds like someone else we know. ;)

Before I could get the email written and pictures formatted, Allison of WMRL let me know that Roscoe found a home! Hooray for Roscoe. Home for the holidays!

A delightful weekend

It certainly isn't in the books yet but this weekend has been thoroughly delightful and relaxing. Friday night, we hosted Book Club. A group of fun and lively people get together and talk about the assigned book. We hadn't read the book but really had just as much fun with the people. The next book we will read since it is one of Paul's favorite books, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. That should be some fun discussion. :)

Last night, we had our Davey Jones dinner. Paul made lobster tails, crab legs, a little bit of beef for himself and toasted pine nut cous cous. Ann Marie made the salad and a homemade salad dressing that I must post at the cafe. Our friends at Art of the Table recommended a fantastic wine for the meal, Forman Napa Valley Chardonnay. Head over to the Cafe for a full recap. There are plenty of leftovers and it looks like our scrambled eggs will enjoy a little crab meat and lobster this AM. (Woo hoo).

Samson has enjoyed his weekend as well. We discovered that he enjoys a little crabmeat and is always happy with a few leftovers. Today involves a lot of writing, some errands and some relaxing. Enjoy your day!

Sunday wrap up

I have too many interests. And not enough time. I could cut out sleep but that might be detrimental. Or just stupid. I love to sleep - always have - never did an all-nighter though I did come home late when I was young. Anyway, I don't have enough time to do all the things that I really want to do. Can't cut out work so that leaves ... well... nothing. So I deal.

Saturday morning, way too early for me, Paul and I both took off on our separate ways. Paul headed to Chicago for the a friend's retirement; I headed to a friend's business to help him interview sales people. It was a good day of interviewing and by the time I got home, Mr Handsome was ready to play. Problem with Saturday was the temperature; it was 51 degrees and all the snow in our backyard had melted into small lake. Lake Kratochwill we call it. Samson calls it fun. I call it messy.

Saturday night was an absolutely beautiful evening. Paul was going to spend the night in Chi-town but the weather was terrific and the roads clear, so he headed home. He called me about the time the sun was setting and urged me to grab the camera and get outside. It was gorgeous out and I took some beautiful pictures of the moon. I know that I should have grabbed the tripod too but my pictures were good enough. The rest of the night, I hung with the Handsome One and read.

Since the photography class, I have spent my entire life in manual mode. And RAW. The only time I find myself switching to pre-fixed settings is to see the ISO setting. It is wonderful to have so much control over the pictures. Poor Samson is so tired of having my camera stuck in his face that he has started trotting to the other room when I pull it out. :) I have signed up for another class, this one out at Meijer Gardens. It's in March and should be another fun event. I will keep you posted!

There won't be much activity here the next couple of nights. The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is on Monday and Tuesday nights on the USA Channel. We have to watch and always see the German shepherd dog. It's a must for us. In fact, I recall skipping a few classes and leaving early so I could get home to see it. ;)

So that's it for now! We didn't win the lottery so tomorrow, we are back at it! Enjoy the night.

Here comes winter!

Winter Storm Warning

It's snowing. It's big, wet, heavy snow accumulating at a furious rate. It's 33 degrees outside, that dangerous temperature where snow/sleet/rain sort of mix and freeze. It's quite slippery outside. Translation = it's perfect weather for a dog! We have already been outside twice to chase flat disks. Samson is simply impervious to the cold and I know that he is sitting on the sofa, baffled as to why we aren't outside rolling in the wet stuff.

We had a most enjoyable weekend. We celebrated Paul's birthday in style. He wanted very little, a nice lunch at his favorite place, Founder's, where we had sandwiches, a pint and filled up our growlers. I was the designated driver so I had my Pale Ale to enjoy at home!

We also had great fun meeting up with our friends Lies and Phil. They have three of the most amazing dogs and Samson loves running and playing with them. Nikon is their puppy (picture below of him kissing Samson) and is strikingly stunning and quite vocal! Of course, their dogs Coke and Kenya are wonderful too. Kenya always gives Samson a run for his money. There are always a lot of gnarling and gnashing of teeth but no one ever gets hurt. All the dogs had a wonderful time, especially Samson. He was dead tired and covered in goose poop. What is more fun on a birthday than cleaning goose poop out of Samson's coat?


For Paul's birthday dinner, he cooked a couple of filets and made a Cabernet reduction with shallots and capers. Amy hooked us up with a terrific wine, Piccolo Cru' an incredible blend from Napa. (Comments: Piccolo Cru’ is a dark, purple colored wine, clear in appearance with a bouquet combining the ripe, blueberry and meaty character of the Merlot and Malbec, with the spice, herbal and earthy components brought forth by the Cabernet Sauvignon with a hint of mint chocolate on the finish) It was amazing. Now you might be asking yourself, "self, why did Paul cook his own birthday dinner?" The answer of course is that 1) he wanted to live; 2) he wanted something delicious; and 3) my idea of cooking is 10 minute. (10 minute is a local Chinese restaurant. We LOVE the place). We had a quiet evening reflecting on the year. It was been QUITE a year.

I am on vacation next week. I have a lot going on with a couple of breakfasts, lunches and a dinner with friends. Tomorrow with all the snow coming down, I anticipate a whole lot of pictures, frisbee playing and shoveling in my future! With my new camera lens comes a learning curve. I can think of no better way to spend a Monday than at home with Mr. Handsome, a camera, a few books and a lot of snow!

Enjoy your week!

Another leafy Saturday

The leaves in November fall like rain. Only different. They are bigger and don't absorb into the ground. Rather they sit on our lawn and taunt us - ha ha, they say, I am going sit on your lawn all winter and be ugly. With possibly the biggest yard that I will ever own in my life, hauling leaves is no small feat, nor is it for the faint of heart. Fortunately for us, we have hand's down, the world's best neighbors and we do leaves together. They have six people, we have two, plus Mr Handsome who has to be smack dab in the middle of everything. And Paul has the weapon, the nuclear-powered leaf blower. It works. At 8:30 this morning, we were back at it (I imagine to the chagrin of other neighbors) and think that this is the last of the leafy Saturdays before winter. Amen.

I write a lot about Samson. I can see that it might get dull or boring, not too interesting after having him a year. The thing is, I don't get bored or tired of writing about him or taking his picture, or playing with him, or hunting with him or napping with him. He had a rough start somewhere and every time we go outside and he comes charging full speed home, it makes my heart feel good. There are so many dogs right now, sitting in shelters. So many dogs that will never make it out. I read about dogs for adoption on Petfinder and some of the reasons the dogs have been surrendered make me sick to my stomach. Reasons like the dog got too big (hello moron, you got a German shepherd and they get big DUH), or we didn't have any time for the dog, our family was too busy (wow, hope your kids don't throw you away when you are old and they are busy) and this was priceless, owner didn't like the coloring of the German shepherd. I don't have anything to say to that. Perhaps someone stops by my site and sees what a little exercise, discipline and affection will do for a beauty like him. Or any other dog. And maybe will save one of the nearly 3- 4 million (that's MILLION) animals that will be euthanized THIS YEAR ALONE. The cool thing about our neighbors, on both sides, and our good friend Deb and our good friend, Mary along with a host of others, all have dogs rescued from a shelter. This year, our Christmas dollars will go to the shelters that are desparate for supplies. I will write about that later.

We have a busy weekend with some fun errands and a couple of steaks on the grill. Head over to the Cafe this weekend. We are hosting the Chilipalooza with several neighbors bringing their favorite brand of chili to compete and share.

It's off to coif, afternoon pie with friends and a little shopping at our favorite store. Enjoy the day!

Walking through the park..

....and reminiscing. Because, of course you know, that I can barely walk. So my walks are in my head, for the moment. I didn't blog much with Allie. I have had this blog since 2004 but didn't keep much of the information, for a number of reasons. Allie was our beautiful German shepherd who chose us and stayed with us for over 13 years. We did everything possible to give her the best quality of life possible while she suffered horrific allergies. How we managed during those years, I haven't quite figured out. She had a number of medicines to take along with a host of trips to specialists at MSU and her internist in Detroit. She had more medical professionals looking after her than I do! We loved her so.

We have grown so incredibly fond of our Mr. Handsome. He is a big goofy dog with a huge heart. He doesn't know his size and often is completely oblivious to large stationary objects like a sofa or table. His youth is apparent in his constant scanning for critters in his yard, intruders or the ever popular, Furry Girlfriend.

Paul and I talk often of the differences between the two dogs. Allie was a slender, aloof, reserved and quiet dog. I would best describe our life together as being allowed in her world, bit players whom she tolerated to feed, care and adore her. This changed slightly when we were at the beach. At the beach, she was transformed into a wild, howling beast. We loved it.

Samson is a hunter. He hunts and kills his prey. He is fast and nimble and not afraid to attack anything. This became a concern when the wild turkeys were in our yard, and the raccoon and we are always fearful of the skunks. (It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when). He is confident and mobile, demanding and entertaining all at once. Tonight, the hunter killed a shrew. Little guy was probably lounging for dinner in our neighbor's pachysandra, when out of the sky came a wild monster and ended its life. This is, of course after wild monster Samson toyed with him for a while before the end. Poor little guy.

His conquest in the pachysandra left him pretty round up for the evening. He had quite a BIT to say to Paul as we were trying to enjoy a potentially quiet Friday. Nothing like having your butt chewed by a dog.

We both agreed that any dog coming into our house would live with Allie's ghost. But Samson is a different kind of dog. He isn't concerned about a comfortable bed or a good quilt. He just wants to be with us and do dog things. Like chase and kill things. He is a funny little man. Lots to do this weekend! Enjoy.

Bad feet

Yeah, bad feet.  It's going around.  Fortunately Paul is immune from the BFS (Bad Feet Syndrome) and since he is interviewing, it's a GOOD thing.  

First an update on Deb.  She is healing well, improved spirits and looking much, much better. Earlier this week, she was struck with a horrible bout of the flu. Lugging around her 50 lb cast (ok, slight exaggeration), trying to get to the bathroom on her scooter, things did not go well. Paul picked her up some meds and some 7-up and with a little time, she is feeling better.   She has a new cast and her leg seems to be healing well.  She has a great number of people bring her food, running errands, taking care of her furry kidz and some REALLY good friends doing her laundry.  ;)  (Well since I can't cook, at LEAST I can do her laundry).  :D  I think what it must be like - it's her right leg and she can't walk but to the next room, is not allowed to go downstairs and can't drive.  To be at the mercy of others can be a helpless feeling but she keeps a smile on her face and is always so appreciative to friends and family helping out.  It's good to see her smiling again. 

Other bad feet, well, those would be mine.  Friday,  yes Friday, Good Friday, I am having a little surgery on my foot.  It isn't a big deal and I shouldn't be down long (just a few days) and then I will be back at it, full force.   I have had some shots to try and eliminate the pain; they have not worked so it requires a further work.  I am not complaining since Deb is hobbling around with a big ole cast.  Mine will be a hole and a snip.  And some ice.   

This evening, I was limping around, setting the table.  Underfoot, even the BAD foot, was Samson.  I stepped right on his back foot and there was much howling and yelling- he in pain, and my startled yelling.   Poor guy, he went off gimping and I went off limping, both of us with bad feet.   After a few snitches of sausage and a puppy treat, he is much better.  Sad to report that puppy treats did NOT help my foot.  :(  

After this, I hereby declare that we are DONE with bad feet and we will all be well to enjoy the spring and summer.   The Red Wings really need to win and someone goes home tonight on American Idol.  It is supposed to snow on Friday and maybe Saturday.  No, that is not the sick joke of a weather weirdo; rather it is a true statement based on predictions of my favorite weather site - National Weather Service.   

Good night from Michigan - where it's Spring and Spring means snow.  

Rockin' Tuesday night

The Red Wings were down to Nashville 3-0 after the first period. Who are they and what have they done with the hockey team??

It's cold and we have cuddled up and hunkered down. We have been watching the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show for the last two nights. The show has been terrific but even better have been the commercials from Pedigree. These are NOT commercials for the faint of heart. When I see these commercials and I think about the dogs sitting in shelters because they aren't convenient, got too big or were no longer wanted, I choke up. Pedigree is raising money for shelters and breed rescue. Take a look at their efforts here. Donate if you can. Adopt if you want a companion. Please.

I look at our Handsome Boy and am so glad that we brought him home. We watch him look out the window, staring at the trees; even now, a few leaves skip across the snow, the squirrels play the high-wire act on phone and power lines and his furry girlfriend who will bark at him through the window...he has a real life now. We have done a handful of good things in our lives- for ourselves and others. But giving a home to a dog that was essentially a throw-away is tops on my list. He won't win any shows, awards or ribbons but we don't mind. We have won far more than a trophy or a title.

The weekend

I love weekends. I love Saturday morning most. I get up quite early on Saturday, turn on the fireplace in the front room and may (on not) have music playing. Right now, it's Christmas music. It is lovely.

Some odds and ends

Samson is sitting under the table, enjoying one of his many bones. He is not a runner, not nipper or biter but he is a chewer. I am so grateful for the chew toys, otherwise it might be my furniture! :o When our dog, Allie died, we put all her toys in the front room with the intent of giving them (along with all her other supplies) to the local Humane Society. Well curiously (or providentially depending on your perspective) the person from the Humane Society never returned our calls or emails. Now, if you are in a fundraising/advancement/development position and you don't return calls, I am not sure how well you can be doing your job. End digression. So all Allie's toys are in the front bedroom and Samson one day wandered in and discovered them! He was only allowed a bone at a time but then we brought out Kong, then the knotted rope, Buddha; then we brought another bone ... So this dog has figured out that essentially the front room holds all kinds of cool things and will periodically go and sit at the door and whimper (oh the drama). Paul and I have started calling the front bedroom "the store." Samson is at my feet, chewing on a bone from 'the store.'

On Friday, I took 1/2 a day of vacation (and it's a good thing I did) because I was driving home from work thinking, jeez, my car is running really rough. That's odd....then this humming sound started. I thought maybe that it was Samson's crate rattling around ...but my gut told me it really wasn't. When I got to the garage, I looked down and I had a flat tire! Egaads! Now, there are two things that are funny with this story. One, in all the years that I have been driving, I have never had a flat tire! I just stared at it, thinking if I looked at it long enough, it would go away. I hate inconvenience! And this flat tire was just that! The second part that is quite humerous is that I am not always that observant about things. I just move through life sort of happily oblivious, focusing only on what is important. In retrospect, I probably had that flat tire driving TO work this morning, too. The wonderful people from AAA sent someone to my house to change my tire. A nice man from Grand Rapids Towing was there in 20 minutes (even though I told them I was in no rush) and changed it right in the garage. He was done in 10 minutes and loaded up the tire in the back of the LR for me. Off to Ronda Tire to see if the tire could be saved. Of course not - so it looks like new tires for Christmas.

Merry Christmas Deirdre!!

I also forgot to write about one of my favorite days at work. Every year for Chapel, we have the Handel's Messiah sing-along and each year, I go with my friend Pat. So many people come that it isn't held in the chapel; rather it's held at the FAC (Fine Arts Center). The Center is divided by voices - soprano, alto, tenor and bass. Many people have their own music but the chapel also provides music too. There is a place for people who don't sing but want to listen (that's me). The orchestra conductor leads the (student) orchestra and there are readings that go along with the music. That last song is the Hallelujah chorus and it is magnificent. It is a special treat for me. :)

Today is a busy one. We have training today in Lowell. I need to start emptying the contents of the bathroom to get ready for the contractors to start. I have some laundry to do and Samson will need ALL kinds of love and affection. He is missing his daddy (he is really a daddy's boy) and is sort of walking around the house looking for him.

TTFN.

Saturday

We are living with the threat (or in my mind, promise) of a major snow storm. It isn't supposed to start until this afternoon, plenty of time to get home from this AM's adventures.

Today is Samson's first training session. We have cut up a bunch of string cheese. That was our trainer's first tip - puppy treats fill up dogs and make them less likely to be responsive since they are full! We also have our clickers - Samson responds to sound and the clickers really help reinforce the good behavior.

We have begun leaving him at the door frame of the kitchen. He is none too happy about being left out - barking at us from the dining area. He is a very dominant personality and we need to be VERY vigilant about making sure he KNOWS who is in charge.

Many more stories to follow. :)

Oh happy day!

For those of you not interested in dogs, this would be a good entry to skip.

Many of you have followed our trials with Samson, and it has seemed some days like two steps forward, and maybe 1 or 1 1/2 back. He has an affinity for socks and we have lost a couple. We are working hard at keeping the basement door closed (laundry) and the bedroom doors closed(other good smelling stuff) but once in a while, I slip and we lose an undergarment of some kind. ;) We also have to watch the Christmas decorations as he is VERY interested in those as well. We have cut way back on the holiday decor as it is much too tempting for him. :o

Last night, we were sitting around the TV watching the hockey game and LO AND BEHOLD, our dog, Samson, the one who HATES CRATES, walked, ON HIS OWN, into the crate. And turned around in it. And plopped down to sleep. ON HIS OWN!! Did I mention ON HIS OWN?? I was doing the happy dance, jumping up and down, shouting with glee, all in my mind. He pieced it together - the crate is a GOOD thing, a safe place, his bed, his comfort, his storage for toys. OH HAPPY DAY!

(Small translation for my non-furry family member friends - this means, in simplistic terms, that Samson no longer sees the crate as transport to another shelter/bad place rather, a good thing, another place where good things happen. This will aid us tremendously with travel to our training classes. Howling for a 30 minute drive could get VERY old)

I know that he was very tired...didn't have much of a nap yesterday, and desperately wanted to go to sleep. Big steps and oh joy, the happy dance! Woo hoo!!

Good things happen here

These are Paul's words for Sammy. Our lives have changed dramatically with Paul's retirement, the loss of our dog, Allie and the adoption of our new dog, Samson. When we lost Allie, we lost more than just a dog, our constant companion for 13 + years. We also lost a rhythm, a routine and our private "Allie' language. We lost all the silly names we called her, buried her funny foibles yet continued to clean up dog hair the wafted around the house. Not only did we mourn her passing, we missed talking to her. Unless you have a furry companion, I don't know that this could make any sense.

Allie would dream hard, so hard in fact that she would wake herself up. It was one of the funniest things that she did ... she would wake up and then look around, eventually settling her eyes upon one of us, accusing us of waking her up. At which point, Paul would say her to, 'Are you having furry little dreams?" She would put her head back down, with a loud snort, as if to say, don't wake me up again....

With the addition of Samson, we are creating a whole new language around him. He loves and I do mean LOVES his toys. He has many of the toys that Allie could no longer chew; among the toys are a buddha, a large Kong, several bones and a nylon ring that was a gift from our friend Catie. When Samson follows Paul into the kitchen, he says to Sammy, "Good things happen here." And they usually do ... a few snitches of turkey, a sample of bacon, a piece of toast that falls on the floor.

Good things happen here. A wonderful Thanksgiving, great neighbors, a good fire, a great job with fabulous people, a bright future. And now, a new furry friend that fills our heart, a little bittersweet but he doesn't know that he is living with a ghost. Allie would be happy that we opened our home to a lonely dog in need of a good home. And hopefully good people who found themselves in need of a little fur and love.

Thanksgiving morning reflections

What's for breakfast? I remember when parades used to be real parades. Marching bands, floats, funny clowns in little cars and dressed up turkeys waiving to the crowds and police on horses. Now 'parades' are broadway medleys, productions and lipsynced songs. Yuck.

We spent the morning playing Frisbee with Sammy. I don't know who had more fun - Sammy or the two of us! It took no time to train him to fetch - we used two Frisbees and he figured out immediately that if he returned one to us, Paul would throw the second one. That dog is SOOOO fast. He loves just tearing around the yard. We spent 20 minutes throwing the Frisbee before he even began to tire ....and we took him out a second time, and he had all the energy all over again!

Sometimes things work out better than we deserve. We are blessed with fabulous neighbors on both sides. Our neighbors to the east (Amy and Dennis) have a similar sized yard and we have no fence between our yards. It allows for good football and soccer games in the far back, as well as amazing room to run for our dogs. Annie is their dog and she is one of the cutest dogs that I have EVER seen. Annie used to sit by our back slider and bark and wait for Allie to come out so they could play. Allie was too old and Annie didn't understand that Allie couldn't run and play. It broke our hearts. Oddly, when we lost Allie, Annie would come nowhere near us ... even when we came by Amy and Dennis' house, Annie would run away from us. It was definitely a statement! But Annie met Sammy and they hit it off. Paul was out with our neighbor Amy, and Sammy and Annie were tearing around the backyard. We all win.

As I type, Sammy is collapsed on the floor. I am watching the Detroit Thanksgiving Day parade and we have a lovely fire going in the backroom.

Paul's apple pie is done and it looks fabulous. This is one of my favorite days of the year!

Friday

Whenever I get to Friday, I think about the Snoopy dance. Surely there are some copyright issues here but for now, I am happy watching him dance.

While I don't always feel this happy, I surely know that the weekend is here and I have a day or two to sleep in. Irony of ironies, I end up getting up so much earlier than any day I have to go to work. Go figure.

We are also puppy sittings friends' dogs this weekend. So truly, with Snoopy dancing, Samson testing our patience and stamina, two Yorkies leaping and bounding all over us, it's a weekend going to the dogs. (Oh I kill myself).

Is there anything more to say?

Thursday

It was a good day and difficult day. We pray and mourn for our friends whose dog was attacked by a coyote. You can read their story here.

Samson continues to challenge and test us. Paul's POA (Plan of Action for those of you not familiar with acronyms) is to tire his little puppy butt out. He walked him today for 2 1/2 hours plus a 30 minute walk this evening. It's working. He is tired.

We took some shots of him in his more quiet moments. He is a beautiful dog. If anyone can help him, it's us. If not, it's a really, really tough call.

Lazy day in the sun

What a wonderful way to spend a day...sunning in the backyard.