Surgery

It has been awhile since I last wrote on this page. Rosie is as cute and bad as ever and Ron has been taking pictures. I have just been lazy. The real story in the dog population has been Daisy.

Sometimes Chessies have a body oil that can be kind of stinky. We experienced it with Bo, but Bo was a beautiful dog and it was not too bad. For the most part we just grinned and beared it.

Now Daisy is a different story. She is probably the sweetest dog we have ever had and very lovable. Actually, everyone loves Daisy. Even people who don't usually like big dogs. From the time we brought her home, she has had a distinct odor. First, Ron gave her a bath. You may remember from an earlier blog that we were afraid to bathe our first Chessie because we didn't want to ruin her coat. We embarrassed ourselves by asking a near stranger why she stunk only to be told she needed a bath.

After we bathed Daisy things got better for awhile, but then a really offensive odor developed. We kept wiping the liquid from her mouth, she drools a lot. That was not it. We cleaned her ears. That wasn't it. Ron gave her several sits baths. Finally he took her to the vet and they cleaned her anal glands-lovely. Things got better for awhile and we kept her mouth and ears in check.

The odor became unbearable. If she was outside, no big deal but when she is practically sitting on your lap-UGH!! We could not stand it. Ron decided that he would take her to the vet and ask to be taught how to clean anal sacs. If you would like more information on the cleaning of anal glands do a search on You Tube.) Ron advised me against posting the video on this blog. It was too much even for him. What a guy.

When he and Daisy walked into the vet's examination room, Dr. Glen smelled it right away. He told Ron that her anal glands should be removed. Without asking the price, he agreed immediately. We couldn't stand to be in the room with her and a long Minnesota winter is coming. We don't have the heart to leave a dog outside in this weather and we got her to cuddle with on those long winter days.

The next day Daisy's anal glands were removed and our bank account was consider

ably smaller. She came home with one of the new no bite collars on and she has been great! She doesn't run too much and she hasn't gone in the river. Luckily the weather has cooled off so it hasn't been too bad. Even more impressive she has put up with Rosie, who desparately wants to play and Ron and I aren't as much fun as Daisy.

Friday I took her for a check up. She is doing well and smells much better. Dr. Glenn thinks we may have to change her food because she does have a little odor from body oil. (He will have us feeding her raw chicken before he is done.) With a clean bill of health and an appointment to have the stitches removed on Saturday, Daisy and I headed for home.

She started whining as soon as we got in the car. Actually, she had whined all the way to the vets. She doesn't like the car that much and I just thought she missed Rosie. About half way home something stated to stink. No, it couldn't be. She could not have had a bowel movement in my car. I had her out before we went to the vet. I walked her around the vet's property before we went in. She must have just passed gas.

On my way home, I had to drive through the post office to mail some letters. I looked in the back seat. Oh my goodness, I have hit a new low. My sweet dog has had a bowel movement it my car. Of course, being a well behaved dog, she was extremely agitated. Fortunately, we live about a mile from the post office. I got her home. It was everywhere- on the seat, on the floor, on the kleenex box, on some ribbon and paper I had in my backseat.

I put Daisy in the kennel, got a bucket with Mr. Clean, some rubber gloves and a rag. I had the pleasure of scrubbing my back seat and thowing away a lot of things. When Ron got home, he gave it the sniff test. It passed. I got a gold star for cleaning up BM. It's like riding a bike once you know how to do it you never forget.

Rosie Swims

The weather in Minnesota finally broke. Today it was not raining and it was not too hot and muggy to take the dogs out to play. We have been laying low. Just playing with the dogs enough for them to get some exercise but not get overheated.

Today we played fetch in the yard for awhile and then they wanted to go swimming. Ron bought a new throwing dummy so I took it down to the river for a game of swim and fetch. While I was playing with them Daisy did all the swimming and Rosie stood on sure and pounced w

hen Daisy got close.

After Ron bailed the water out of our neighbor's boat, he came over to play with us. He wanted to get Rosie swimming and he did. As you can see in the video below.

They played for quite awhile and then they had to stay outside. They were too wet to go in the house and we were going out to dinner, so we dicided to leave them in the kennel while we

were gone. Ron also bought Rosie a new collar for the woods. He is looking forward to taking her out pheasant hunting. Right now all she wants to do is follow Daisy but he is optimistic. She is showing off her new collar in this picture. You can't really tell from the picture, but she is sitting in her favorite lawn chair. I am convinced she thinks she is human. Ron thinks she is just spoiled.

Ron has given Rosie a nickname, Rue. He got the name from the book HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins. It is young adult fiction but it is pretty dark. Rue is a young girl who is a part of the Hunger Games. She was Ron's favorite character, so he has started calling Rosie Rue.

This is not really the trailer for the movie, but I thought it was the best fan made trailer I could find on You Tube. Rue is not in this trailer but it gives you an idea about the story.

Peter Pan/Hurricane/Princess

Rosie was in full throttle today. She has decided that the concrete on our patio is not at all comfortable enough for her. Whenever Ron and I go in the house. She helps herself to a seat. Of course, since we love to spoil our dogs, we laugh and take a picture. We should be reprimanding her and making her get down. We did the same thing with our son Ryan. I remember saying when he gets bigger these things are not going to be funny, but that could not stop me from laughing. I have a good sense of humor. In the end, he did turn out just fine.

This afternoon Ron was sitting in what I guess is now Rosie's chair. His being there didn't stop her from flying up and landing in his lap. Thus the nickname Peter Pan. Later in the evening she came rushing into the house like a whirlygig. Ron had been playing with the dogs and had taken them swimming in the river. That was not enough to slow her down. Thus the nickname Hurricane.

I, on the other hand, have my own nickname for her. Just look at the picture. She is The Princess.

First Trip

If you read this blog regularly, you may remember that Ron and I purchased a new car and paid extra for a pet cage installed. The plan was to keep the dogs in the back and the people up front. That is without using my arm or Ron jimmierigging an old fence to our car.

Well, we just returned from our first trip in the new car. The dogs did great other than Daisy vomitting the first few minutes in the car. This is the second time that has happened. I think we have figured out not to feed her and then pu

t her in the car this time. The trip to Erie took about seventeen hours. It's about 960 miles but we make a lot of pit and walk the dogs stops. There was just a little whining from Rosie each leg of the trip, but thankfully she let us know when she needed to stop. No accidents and everyone stayed where they belonged on the way to Erie.

Not true on the way home. Rosie decided to go on a little adventure as we we drove through Ohio. She worked her way through the top of the divider and onto the backseat filled with everything we hadpacked. She just wanted some human company. After she checked things out and took a little nap on my lap, she decided to head back.

She did not make it very far. She took another nap until we made our next stop when we returned her to her rightful place. In the pet area with Daisy, the good dog, who had sat quietly keeping her watchful eyes on the little one.

The Hunter or the Hunted?

The storms are over and we had another beautiful day in MN. When I got home from work I took the dogs down to the river. I don't have any pictures because trying to play with the two dogs in the river is really all that I can handle. Daisy fetched her while Rosy stood on shore and hid in the bushesand would pounce when Daisy would get near to shore.

We were not down there five minutes when I looked up and there was a bald eagle not more than six feet over my head - no camera. I'm sure it was checking Rosie out. Good thing she is at least twenty pounds by now.

After we played for awhile, I put Rosie on her leash and was going in the house to wash my hands. I heard a little commotion and turned to see Rosie's back paws on the lawn chair and

front paws on the table. In her defense, I will say I had the last of her dinner on the table so Daisy didn't get it. I put her and her food on the ground and she finished her dinner. She was ready to play again.

Daisy and Rosy wrestled for awhile. While they were wrestling everthing came to a stop all eyes up into the sky. A Great Blue Heron was flying over the yard. I think she is going to be a great bird dog. She is really interested in whatever is flying around.

A little later, Daisy took off down the hill and found one of their balls. I let Rosie off her

leash and she ran down to play a game of sniper. Most dogs place chase but not Rosie. She has figured out that Daisy is stronger and faster than she is, so she sits or stands in wait and then pounces.

Daisy Beware!

Rosie's Life not so Rosy

Rosie has had a few rough days. Last night we had company. Sarah, not our daughter, brought her children and dog for a visit. We all had a great visit. That is everyone everyone except Rosie.

Her dog is a beautiful yellow/white Lab named Bear. He is just over a year old and weighs about 95 lbs. He and Daisy had a grand old time chasing and swimming until they were exhausted. The problem was Rosie could not get out of their way fast enough. After about ten minutes in the chaos of two large dogs running rampant on your turf, she wanted to go in the house.

We put her in the house and when I went in to set the table, I didn't see her. She didn't come to the door to greet me. She wasn't under the table, her favorite resting place. I started looking for her. Finally, I found her in the laundry room lying quietly and trying not to be noticed. It's not that she has never gone in there before. It is usually when one of us is doing laundry. She likes to check out the piles of dirty clothes to find some embarrassing article of clothing and sneak it out to the kitchen to chew on.

This morning when I got up, Ronnie and the dogs were downstairs. Again, no greeting from Rosie. I found her in the laundry room again. Ron had put her ear drops in and they hurt, so after she was all done with her drops she went to her quiet space. We don't even have to give her time out she takes it herself.

Rosie and Daisy BFF

Before we get started with the Rosie update, I just want to share a picture of our beautiful lawn. It looks much better than the professional job done a couple of weeks ago. Ron is thrilled to be done with it as you can imagine.

Rosie had her third vet visit today. We ventured out in the new car. She was in the back and the barrier was in place. She could have escaped under it, but she kept trying to go over it and couldn't fit. She was not able to escape to the back seat, but she did initiate the car with just a little pee. I didn't have a towel or anything to clean it. Fortunately, the vet gave me some paper towels - no charge.

She weighs 19.25 lbs. We were pretty close when we guessed 20 lbs. She got a booster shot, Frontline, and Iverheart Plus. (The Vet said it saved us 20% over HeartGard this year.) Of course, that could not be the end of it. He noticed her ears stunk, and they do. He gave us an antibiotic, Gentamycin Otic. Saln., to put in her ears twice a day also, Chlorhexiderm Flush to clean her ears twice a week. You know I don't really mean that he gave it to us.

He thinks the ear infection may be caused by a food allergy. This is why he does not recommend more than one bag of Puppy food. He says it is too high in carbohydrates- sounds familiar. I think my doctor said my diet was too high in carbohydrates, too. If the ear infection does not clear up, he will recommend changing dog food. He is a proponent of feeding your dogs raw chicken and vegetables. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the ear infection clears up.

While waiting for the Vet, I was talking to the Tech and she just loves Rosie. She thinks she is so cute and friendly. I know they say that about all the puppies. Then, she told me they have a few Chessie's for patients that they cannot even touch. I'm always incredulous when I hear these stories about Chessies because our experience with them has been so positive. She also asked me if Rosie was getting along with her sister and I assured her they are BFF.