Moo, I'm a Cow

Taricha has always had a love for grass.

Must taste good? 

She will seek out particularly tasty patches and munch munch munch!

Taricha is feeling fine! She just... likes.. grass and always has!

Sometimes she'll even pout at me when I wont let her eat grass...

....like grass in yards or near buildings and parking lots.. 

Must avoid eating chemicals!

Enjoying summer and hope you are too!

Eegahds!

We go on one little hike at a new park and this is what happens.

Ticks!! Covered Taricha.

My sister and I sat Taricha down and spent a good 20 min picking them off.

And I still keep finding more.

and more.

Guess we wont go there again!

It was a paved walking path so this was a bit unexpected...

but I suppose there were lots of over hanging trees.

Arggg.

We use Frontline plus but I guess that takes a little time, for the tick to attach, die and fall off.

Now we're on the hunt for a dog safe tick repellent...

cause this is nuts.

Back in Action with a Smile

Can you see how happy that bully face is to be out playing again?

Oh yes, Taricha's mouth is healed up and she couldn't wait to actually hold onto something!

 Yesssssss alllll mineee!

Granted, the space left by the removal of the teeth is still 'fleshy' and probably tender... she has the all clear for normal actives  gently. Taricha is mighty dismayed that I wont tug toys with her. Instead we're working on  drop (takes her about 1 solid min of be standing there staring for a drop to happen) and fetch, just having a good time, sans rough play.

 

Taricha's tongue at full pant is now lopsided. Don't tell Taricha that her smile is forever crooked, she still believes she's the prettiest lady around.

Oh, thats cause she is!

Our hearts go out to the Oklahoma tornado victims  hoomans and pups alike. The video of the woman finding her dog mid interview did indeed bring tears to our eyes. We live in Kansas, the same storm that got them passed right over our heads the same night and it was mighty frightening but we're ok! (both Taricha and Martok actually slept through the whole damn thing...)

Finally, Freedom!

The last month has been brutally boring! Taricha's been under the vet's orders to take it easy while her mouth heals up. As long as this Monday's recheck goes well, we have full intentions of getting the fuck out of dodge and camping the next day. We both need a vacation!

I know something is up, cuz its my backpack!

Taricha hasn't been sitting around the house all the time, she wouldn't stand for it. She still needs exercise and stimulation despite a sore mouth, we just take it down a notch. A lot of  neighborhood walks. Grandma's house (and the kids) and most importantly, weightless local trail runs.

These limestone glades make me feel small

Lets goooo what we standing here for?

You probably noticed that neat patch that says "WORKING: PLEASE DO NOT PET" on Taricha's backpack. They're sew on patches and the best five bucks I've spent in a while, infact I need to get more to make Taricha a vest. 

Why is she wearing this? Well Taricha has a few issues with people walking up to us. She is a very people loving dog but it simply must be under the right circumstances and with the right greeting. (Proper greeting... If you ask her to sit (not tell), give her a treat and pet the shoulders/neck (not head), she is your best friend for life.) 

When she and I are walking, in our zone together, she doesn't appreciate a stranger reaching out to pat her head or rushing up to us very fast googling over her, it makes her uncomfortable, breaks her focus and changes her mood. People trying to pat her head first is the worst and it happens ALL THE TIME. 

Taricha is an interesting looking dog, I get it, everyone wants to come talk about her and pet her. Good people ask before approaching but my answer is usually "Sorry, she's not real friendly..."  Often, too often, we've had a few 'sneak attacks'.... where Im distracted for a moment or in a crowd and someone comes up behind me, without saying a word, to pet Taricha. She's a good girl and is not trying to bite when someone reaches for her. Taricha is VERY good at communicating being uncomfortable but people ignore these early signals so she will growl and sometimes barks, once, very loud to get the point across. Scares the bajeezues out of people and they usually freak out, Im left feeling like everyone thinks I have a vicious dog. She's just communicating. 

These little patches suddenly put my mind at ease when we were walking in a crowd. I swear Taricha was 100% at ease as well; no one tried to approach her, stop her or pet her. Instead they looked at me or talked to me first. The strangest part, I noticed people kept a slightly bigger bubble of space around us. It was beautiful. Taricha and I have been more instep together in public, she is infact working when she has her pack on, it is her job and she loves it. Taricha just doesn't want to be bothered! Amazing how this little sign has made being around people more enjoyable.

Now.... we are going to go shopping today for final camping supplies! Out in nature during the weekdays... Hopefully where there are NO people and we can be freeee!

Mostly Wordless Wednesday

(Taricha had surgery again yesterday. All went well and her mouth looks much improved, the canine hole is restitched, minus one more tooth and then a few more stitches. The miserable anesthesia hangover is hard to watch but today she is feeling noticeably better, well enough that she's tried to pick up a few toys and gets confused when I squeel and take them away. Guess who also very much dislikes the vet now?)

A Toothless Friday

Check out that lack of left canine!

Here she was last fall with a perfect smile.

(one of my favorite photos of ever)

 I will always still love her, less ferocious looking and all.

Taricha is unfortunately not really smiling today. (me too)

The vet looked at her mouth and said it's not healing the way he wanted it to.

Our really nice vet-man explained it all very well but its hard to type out now, apparently, Taricha is going to lose another tooth, this Monday, surgery, again.

The 'flap' over the canine hole didn't close so the hole is still a hole, now exposing another tooth's root. The vet-man did explain this was probably no one's fault, that her jaw structure made it tear and never heal but is positive this next step will fix it for good.

We hope so cause summer is coming and we'd much rather be out having fun than sitting around moping.

It certainly doesn't feel like almost summer because snow came out of nowhere! Marok is all, wtf?

Guess we will have to cuddle away the bad weather and pain.

Cuddles do make it all better. 

What a Week

Between two puppy classes a week, Taricha's tooth surgery and all the general mayhem of dog life... This last week (month!) has been a blurr!

Taricha is just happy the sun is out.

Chunky girl's tooth mess has been just that, a mess. I feel so awful sorry for her, as the hole left in her mouth is freagging huge. It looks like it hurts a whole hell of a lot. I may post photos later but its pretty nasty to see. She's taking her meds like a pro yet the pain killers leave her a bit loopy and glass eyed. The only mildly nice thing is, she's far more into snuggling than usual. We're getting some quality spooning in. 

Loves them ear rubs!

The hardest part is keeping her from doing anything with her mouth. If you know anything about Taricha, you know she is all jaws. Toys, bones, sticks and hand/mouth wrestling, all the time! (which is probably why her tooth broke in the first place... !) To keep her somewhat satisfied, we've been going on a lot of short walks throughout the day. 

Shoulder scruuutches makes the pain go away.

Poor puppy Martok on the other hand, is going slightly crazy because every time he tries to start something with Taricha, I break it up and distract them. Taricha wants to join the play, I feel like the big bad mean parent every time... the sad eyes they give me are getting sadder and sadder but there is really nothing to be done. Taricha still has a huge hole in her jaw and can't risk opening it back up. Taricha cannot properly defend herself if needed, she knows it and could get grumpy, so other activities like the dog park or play dates are also on the back burner. Life goes on....

Martok is getting bigger and bigger! And browner!

He did fabulous at the vet last week for a checkup and shots. At now 21 weeks, Martok weights a hefty 21lbs and as of this afternoon, has lost all four puppy canines! Until his big ones come in... his bite is much more bearable!

Don't let that face fool you. he is all bitey mode all the time! He's starting to figure out that humans have a lot of clothes and toes and fingers and its fun to bite because they squeel! Its a phase, I hope, or he's bored cause he can't chew on Taricha anymore. Martok is smart, he knows he's not supposed to chew on humans, he's just stubborn and never tired!

Since the sun is still shining, we're off to take naps in it.

That Suckers Huge!

Taricha's surgery went well. It was probably harder for me than her... especially watching her be all dopey last night. Like she was drunk and the poor pitiful whines.  Today Taricha is more herself but still miserable, drugged up and all she's doing is moving from sleeping spot to sleeping spot.

The tooth is huge. Like, this photo does it no justice, its as thick as a battery. 2/3 of the tooth was below the gums, hidden, now I get why bull breeds have crazy tugging ability!

The only issue I currently have is... what to DO with the tooth? Frame it? ehh maybe. Making a necklace seems cliche and I wouldn't want to wear it, incase Id lose it. What else can be done with it!!

Going to be a long day...

I decided surgery on the tooth is better sooner than later, just get it over with. So this morning I dropped Taricha off at the vet. Im sure that I'm having a harder time than she is... it was extremely hard to leave her in a room in the hands of another person. She's really never been away from me in strange places with strange people... ! Deep breath.... I will see her later this evening, minus one canine.

(I asked if we could keep the tooth and the lady said most likely....  keeping my fingers crossed, it would make a nice necklace!)

Poor Chunky Girl

Taricha and I were playing tug with a squeaky kong, like we always do and somehow she broke a tooth. I only noticed because there was blood all over the toy and my hands! How can one little tooth create so much blood, I have no idea.

I know this has to hurt, even though she doesn't seem to show it right now.  There is something exposed, pulp, root or whatever!  (That big tooth to the left is a canine and they were about the same size!) So today's beautiful weather is going to be spent going to the Vet rather than romping through the fields.


Later in the day update:
The vet says there is pulp exposed and unless I want to front 2k for a root canal and crown... the tooth just has to go, which isnt going to be cheap either. It has to be done so we set it up for this coming Monday. Slightly nervous because she hasnt been under anesthesia since she was spayed as a puppy! She has some pain killers and antibiotics for now, even though it still doesnt seem to phase her.... except for the excess puddles of drool. Lots of drool.

A Backpacking We Will Go!

The other day I mentioned we received a package. It was Taricha's new backpack and hiking leash. 

I would like to mention right away that the Ruffwear Roamer Leash is my absolute favorite new thing ever.

Taricha and I are walkers. Be it our neighborhood, our fine city or out in the middle of the woods. She sure seems to enjoy the woods more than anywhere else because this is where she starts to pull me around a bit. For the first 15min or so, Taricha pays great attention and is loose-leash but..... then finds a groove and tries to set a fast pace all the while trying to sniff things as she walks briefly. A normal flat 6' leash, this becomes a pain, constantly readjusting, holding, turning around, folding the leash. Hands free was not an option because of her brief sniffs, she'd step over the leash and then it starts to get tangled in legs and more readjustment is needed. If I wanted to take the time to treat every 10 steps she would walk in a heel but that is seriously no fun on a trail for either of us and often there isnt room. 

The roamer has changed it all! I think both of us felt some form of relief while on the trail. Less tension. I  attached the leash to my backpack and didn't really have to think about it the rest of the hike. Actually I thought about it a lot, I thought about how AWESOME it was to not adjust every two steps! Every move either of us made was slowly guided in or out by the bungee-ness of the leash. It never got tangled in legs, it just swang along in the air doing its thing. 

This is not a leash I would probably use on streets or parks, because I really dont have that much control. Taricha has nearly 12ft of free roam with when stretched out. Near the dog end of the leash is an extra loop to grab hold of incase of emergencies or if I need to help Taricha up an obstacle. Brilliant  The perfect hiking leash, I will never look back.

 

Then we have our new Ruffwear Approach Pack, size XL. Taricha has gone through a lot of backpacks over the years. All have their pros and cons but this backpack blows them all out of the water. Im turning into an advocate for Ruffwear because the quality has always been superb and they think of great little things that other packs don't. It is expensive, that's why it took me so long to 'invest' but I will say this now, so. worth. it.

But... anyways. This backpack still leans slightly to one side sometimes but every pack has done this on Taricha, maybe one leg is shorter than the other! This pack has room to spare, a great harness for her beefy shoulders to move in and good fit on the belly with padded straps. I looove the little tiny bungee-ness of every strap where it attaches to the pack, it allows for some freedomwhile still hanging tight.

The first day she had it on, Taricha managed to find a pile of animal poo in a thorn bush and proceeded to roll in it as I squeeled at her. I didnt care about her getting dirty, I didnt want the pack to rip! I could hear the thorns grabbing into fabric, I cringed! Thankfully.... not a single thread was out of place on her backpack! Some thorns were stuck in Taricha's hair, though....

I feel backpacking is important for Taricha. It does.... give her a job. I notice an extra glint in her eye when she's got one on and she's extra tired when we get home. I don't always make her carry a lot of weight, per say, just having something on her back does the mental trick. Another of our favorites is this backpack.

Oh jeeze another ruffwear product? Yeah! The Singletrak Pack. We used this alllll winter, when it was muddy or in the city. Its nice a nice pack because she can carry her own water but its small, light and easy to slip on and off.  We had to cut off the belly strap padding to adjust the straps to fit her correctly... even though this is the largest size pack. It didnt seem to effect her comfort at all. But. again, great quality. After almost a year of use it still has every thread in place. 

Taricha is a funny shaped dog, well, compared to most sporty dogs you'll see out on the trail. She has such a huge head, neck and shoulders (doesnt really come across in photos as well as you'd think) that most sizes of most packs dont fit in one place or another. Some failed packs are the following....

Homemade! Oh so long ago I made this for Taricha out of some old cargo pants. It was cute and fun while she was a puppy but she quickly grew out of it. If you'd like to see how your doggie thinks of a backpack, try something like this first even if it doesn't quite fit right... :)

..

The EzyDog Summit backpack! This is probably the worst pack we've tried. For it's average internet price of  $60 for a Large, I fully expected it to be better. The strange canvas fabric is stiff, noisy, like really noisy with every step noisy. The pockets are all Velcro and snaps (as opposed to most packs being zippers). While the chest harness is thick and padded... it doesn't make up for the saddlebags being huge, square and bulky. I do not recommend this item. 

This inexpensive pack was one of our favorites for two years. The Outward Hound Excursion Backpack is only $30 ish bucks for an XL but unfortunately, seems to have been discontinued? The only place online that seem to have this style anymore is Ebay. 

This pack only recently died on a hike from a seam rip and broken zipper. It served well while it lived! This pack never really attached very well around Taricha's chest but this gave her more freedom to move (this would be a better offleash area pack than ruffwear's bulkier harnesses). No matter how I adjusted the straps, the pack always kept the weight on her back (as opposed to shoulders where it should be...) so I never put more than a few water bottles in it. Still gave her a job and for the price, it's frigging awesome.

Spring is here and summer is coming... I cannot express how happy we are to start getting some real outdoors time again. Taricha is starting to carry real weight now as we train and prep for overnight hikes coming up soon.

When out backpacking it's important to remember common courtesy doggie rules. Most areas require a leash so stick to it! Wildlife doesn't appreciate being chased. Pick up all poo to keep things beautiful and water unpolluted!

Have you gotten outdoors with your dog lately? I mean more than just a walk around your block! Go sniff some poo and talk to some birds! Wear a backpack while you do it!

I'm Sorry I Failed You....

It's been a rough week. With 8+ inches of snow covering the city, it puts a damper on our physical activities. Taricha is utterly bored in the house, I could train and play games all day indoors with Taricha and she would still want to do more, outside. She needs something outside every single day.... The only place you can even walk is on the half-plowed streets between traffic and most of them have too much salt or sludge on them to be a safe walking zone.

With 10+ more inches of snow predicted tonight or tomorrow.... I tried to take advantage of today's sunshine and get the hell out of the house.

I stop at a park around the street, huge open field of snow. We hop out of the car and with the help of a squeeky Kong, Taricha is on her way to getting worn out. Only 15min in, she goes for a fetch, grabs the kong and hi-tails it for the car. I yell for her to Stop, a common command she is good with long distance and she completely ignores me. She's at the car door waiting and Im running to catch up.

In the car I find out why she was so done... and it's my own damned fault.

Her legs and paws are slightly bloody.  Cold burns.... !
Yeah know where it looks like a red rash... its the skin simply tearing apart.

The snow just about everywhere is up to Taricha's chest with more in drifty areas, this is the first winter she's seen this much snow at once. While she wears hoodies and hats for ears and chest, it never occurred to me that her legs and belly were extremely exposed. She's got the thinnest fur if no fur at all.

Her skin is very pink, always is and the brown spots are just spots of skin color. You can even still see the blue tattoo she received when she was spayed years ago. Thinnest fur ever.

Even between her toes there is barely any fur. Little scatterings  While her legs look like they are white with hair, its so thin and fine that it is zero protection against wet snow.

The whole drive home, Im apologizing to Taricha about her legs. It looked plain awful, it was bad enough for a few drops of blood to start trickling.

This evening I can barely even see a thing on her legs or belly, its either not as bad as I thought or she heals extremely fast! I have learned my lesson though, Taricha doesnt like the deep snow and we simply have to keep our outdoor sessions quick. 10min seems to about her max.

Ready for spring!

On another note..... Taricha and I have BIG NEWS to share.
I can't contain it too much longer.
Infact Im counting down the days...
7 more of them....
until......

WE GET A PUPPYYYYYYYYYYYYY.


Long story short, we fostered recently to simply figure out if we wanted a second dog around. The answer to that is yes. We are getting a gorgeous black pittie through a local bully rescue. It was a hard choice to get a puppy, as I know so many loving adults need a good home, but I fell in love with this guy and want him to grow up with us, to get a  real solid bond, to start training off right (I missed so many things while Taricha has a puppy.) So here we go... a GRAND new adventure begins soon.

One thing after another....

Not that I'm complaining because its part of being a dog-mom... things will come up and I have to take care of them. This year though, is getting fairly ridiculous.

First a bladder infection which required a vet visit and meds.
Then the neverending ringworm.. which we are STILL battling on the cats.
Two more vet visits for ringworm meds. Endless anti fungal cream and powders....
by endless I mean we are going on 4 months of ringworm battle.

Then... Ticks. 

Like, a lot of them. SOOO tiny that I had a hard time telling if they were ticks at all. It looks like another ringworm breakout the way it gets red, raises the fur and itches. Tweezers couldnt even pull them off they are SO tiny. Sure nuff tho, its hundreds and hundreds of tiny ticks.

Im fairly sure she picked them up during a 5mile backwoods hike two days ago. She was on a leash the whole time and we were on the trail... but its the woods, what can you do?

So back to the vet to purchase some Frontline flea meds. We used it last night and by this morning the ticks are dead. They are still attached but slowly falling off and all I picked off were lifeless.

We had not been using Flea drops for a year or so... i thought there was no need when we never had fleas and only a random tick easy to pull off. I was wrong. Flea drops are good!

Now if only we could go the rest of this year without some weird ailment or problem! We'd be happier puppies!

Summer Blues

Not another Vet visit!

Some of the worst news ever for a dog..... 

Quarantine! Nooooooeos! 

Why?

Somewhere in our adventures, we picked up Ringworm. Which isnt a worm at all but simply a fungal infection... It totally snuck up on us. First I noticed Taricha had what I thought were bug bites, like a tick had grabbed hold and fell off (which happens often) but didnt think much of it. She's very thin fur'ed, some of the white is almost translucent, so every blemish is easily seen. Only two days later, she's breaking out all over..... so am I and so are the cats. Little round red spots that look like burns. UGHhhhhhh! 

So we're spending a while tucked away in the house fighting this. Everyone has gotten coatings of very stinky substances and will continue to be tortured as such every few days. All beds, pillows and blankets are off to the cleaners. Carpets and hardwoods scrubbed. The only activity we can risk are walks... no playdates, no dog parks, no pet stores. We're fighting it and we're going to win. It's just a tad boring in the meantime.

PS. We're so thankful this is not an ITCHY version.

Feels like Spring

Taricha and I have been enjoying the last month of 50 degree days. Ive made every attempt to get us on a serious outing once a day on top of the usual neighborhood walks. We've visited several conservation areas, lakes and parks lately but mostly walking trails hidden in between (and under) suburbia. Its fun and rewarding for both of us to explore new places. And its just so damned nice out.....

One of *my* fave new places is an out of the way park that has empty run down baseball fields. Im nearly positive they're not in use because they dont even seem to be in upkeep. The fences are almost falling over, weeds overgrown, diamond dirt is half gone! No one ever passes by and the only sound is the far off soccer fields that seem to always be occupied.

The best part of these baseball fields is that they're mostly fenced. I feel comfortable taking Taricha off leash and getting a little crazy, a real rarity. We try to bring a toy along everywhere we go, the squeaky KONG being her fave. (She gets rather obsessed over this toy compared to others... crazed look in her eye!) We practice Sit, Wait, GO GET IT's with the KONG in the field until she's so tired she just plops into the grass pant-snorting.

All this work and new diet is starting to pay off. She is losing weight. Our weekly trip to my mother's house results in much love and attention from many visitors, some which had not seen her in a bit. They remarked on her looking better which makes me feel better because I know Taricha has to be feeling better. A lot of better going on! Im excited for our next  vet trip to find out how much she's actually weighing in at. Unfortunately for me (thankfully for Taricha) that vet trip should be a long ways off.

On Size..

Our last vet visit over a month ago resulted in Taricha being called fat. I took this to heart and have been watching every little thing Taricha decides to stick in her fat mouth.

It was originally harder than I thought because every place we visit tends to have people who want to feed her. My mother's house has 5 people with table scraps and children who leave food sitting out, the pet store clerk and the coffee drive thru lady have biscuits, the back yard has sticks and most importantly, our doggiee roommates have food that sits out all the time (because their owner just does what he does.... First thing I did when I moved in was talk him out of feeding the dogs Ol Roy but thats as far as my advice was taken). I started to feed her about 5ft away from the other dog's bowls and with a little vigilance and a few 'no's' when I hear her starting to root in their bowls and she seemed to get the idea.

Aside from watching the 'extra' intake of food, I switched Taricha from an adult food to a large breed food. She has lost noticeable weight and is looking very good. Enough for other people to mention that her hips just arent quite as wide. We'll keep this diet up and see how things progress. Taricha's energy level hasnt changed, she's still an extremely lazy dog..  Especially on rainy days, she wont even go outside because it'll get her paws muddy. Ohe noes!

Taricha two springs ago as a fat puppy.

And yesterday.... ! 

Im just big boned...

Taricha and I wandered into our vet the other day. We were a little overdue for vaccinations, Taricha took her shots with an easy stride. Infact the only thing she noticed going on was the lack of treats being fed to her. 

The exciting part of the vet's office is finagling Taricha onto the scale, holding her still and waiting for the big number to stop moving. She weighed in at a whopping 101lbs at one year and eight months old.

At which point the vet and two different techs decided to tell me that she's getting fat and should consider changing her food and lightning things up.  Whaaaaaat! No!

I admit that over this summer she's put on a lot of thickness.... a lot of meat if you will. She's.... solid. But I guess I chocked a lot of it up to her breed... American bulldogs tend to be very WIDE dogs...

Infact all her thickness makes for a great pillow...

For now we're not changing anything drastic but I have cut out a minute amount of daily kibble and watched her more closely to be sure she isnt ninja'ing the other dogs' food. (Which is left out all day every day per roommates request.) 

Taricha and I celebrated our first year together recently. Happy Gotchya Day and all!. The spoiled dog she is got a brand new leather collar decorated with metal pin studs and a shiny new ID tag. Taricha is the envy of all the girls on the block. 

No More Homeless Pets KC

Today's a good afternoon to point out that we love No More Homeless Pets KC I'm pretty new to the dog world and have been so surprised about how friendly, inviting, up to date and COOL everything and everyone have been. NMHPKC is a local affordable Spay & Neuter clinic that recently opened their full time Health clinic and their making great strides around town.

I had Taricha spayed here last year and it's where we visited just yesterday when she was feeling down. Its across the highway and down the street, the facilities are open, inviting, clean. Everyones always been nice and the best part, they take part in all kinds of FUN  things around town. .

Just the other night, a friend and I went to a rockabilly show at a local watering hole. Lots of people, bands and vendors.... all a giant benefit for No More Homeless Pets KC and I wasn't aware of this until we arrived there. It was an awesome surprise. People were rocking out, drinking, donating and helping the doggies and people like me... who need to use these kinds of facilities when we're flat broke! Who knew an organization could be this cool? PS. They're totally active on FB and I luff that.