A Nice Break from the Routine

I had a nice little pat on the back this week. I am a reader of Pioneer Woman the last few years (since her first SXSW recognition)and thoroughly enjoy her site. If you aren't familiar with her, google her and you will read quite an incredible success story in the blogging world. Anyway, she has a pretty good photography section to her blog and periodically runs assignments/contests. PW is infamous in the blogging community for her contests across all of her web site, she is very generous. I have entered a few pictures over the last year in her photography assignments, but this one hit home for me. The assignment was dog pictures. Well since my animals are my main models, you bet I had a few I could enter for that. I entered 4 pictures and she chose this one as one of her final 10 (out of approximately 10,000 entries). I feel a little special right now.. and very much inspired. It's amazing what a little positive recognition does ones soul. And for those who are interested in the technical aspects: shot with a Nikon D300, 70-200 2.8. I shot this the first week I had this camera and the second week I had the lens. I believe I was wide open and probably at 1/1500 at ISO 200-400 (my standard outside although I may have been on auto ISO at the time since the camera was new) I loved my D50 but the focusing system on the D300 is excellent for action of my calibre and for driving the 70-200 and I knew I wanted to be able to capture more pictures like this, hence the move up in equipment.

But there is sort of a downside to this story.. I don't have my raw file of the above shot. In fact, I had to download the picture off of my smugmug account, as I didn't even have the jpg. In December I made a major boo boo and blew away (like the alliteration?) my external hard drive with all of my photos on it. I have a general backup here in Florida, but it didn't contain this shot (I lost most everything I had shot last summer)and I am keeping my fingers crossed that I backed up the photography external to another general external that is at the cabin. I remember distinctly backing up before we came down, but I am thinking I was backing up from my hard drive rather than my photography external.. so I am bummed.. in a bittersweet kind of way. I also blew away the photos in the previous post of the dogs in the snow last spring.. and only have the web sized photos of those too. Not a good year - but I have learned my lesson and now have good a good backup procedure in place so I hopefully won't ever be in that position again.. makes me so mad at myself. But hey! Watchya gonna do? I know that I would never be able to enter any picture in any professional contest (if I ever choose to) without having the raw file to back me up.. Anyway - it was fun to be a small part of PW's site and see the comments from her readers. It has inspired me to keep on keeping on!

Lost and Found Part Deux

What do you do when a beloved animal dies
(our sweet Miss Lass)
that has a special place in your heart?

If you haven't read part one, you might want to catch up with it before continuing.

It's been just over a month now since Lass died. We still have heavy hearts, the tears still well up pretty easily, but we all are moving along.

After I hastily sent an email to Lass' original owner, I received an unexpected thoughtful reply, within hours. Yes, he was the one that gave Lass over to rescue. He said he did it to try and save a 6 year relationship with his girlfriend who within a year of giving up Lass, he married, and not too long after that divorced. He said he thought of Lass often. He had two other Border Collies, in fact one was Lass' mate and the other was her puppy. LASS HAD A PUPPY ... sort of a huge aaaaawwwwww moment for us. He said he loved her dearly and it broke his heart to give her away. He wrote that he contacted BC rescue to make sure Lass was okay and that he would take her back, but they told him she was in a loving home. His note showed how much guilt he had for giving her up. He kept Lass' mate and her puppy until they both passed away as old dogs. His note brings tears to my eyes as I reread it now. He offered to talk to me about Lass and I took him up on it, but via email. I emailed him two times right after receiving his email. One email was about the struggles we had with Lass, and the other was about the joy she brought to us. I haven't heard from Lass' original owner since his only email. I can only suppose that I stirred up some emotions that he did not want to remember. I can respect that. I was so excited to hear from him and see that he was a caring person.

I guess there are several morals to this story. The first biggie is: Don't ever give up an animal that you love for another human being. I learned that in the demise of my first marriage, which involved my corgis, and my parents to an extent.

Giving up an animal, whether to rescue, or a friend or a family member is a difficult decision. When you are looking at what is THE BEST situation for that animal, trust yourself that you are doing the right thing. It is interesting that 3 people close in our lives have recently given up their dogs because of their living situations. The dogs were all loved, but all three of these people knew that the dogs could have even better homes, homes that could give them the time and attention that they needed. It was a difficult decision for all, and I respect them for making the hard choices.

When giving up an animal, do you tell the recipients about the problems you are having with the dog? I wonder... I don't know the answer to that question. I do think that Lass' optimum home would probably have been where she was the only dog and that someone was home most all of the time. If we had known that she might have had a history of "issues with other dogs" (and we still don't know her history) - we wouldn't have taken her.. but we didn't know.. I believe when you take a rescue, you have a good chance of getting a dog with "issues"... just be prepared to make the commitment to the animal and work as hard as you can. If I could say one thing about doing dog rescue, it would be make sure you have a lot of time to spend with the dog. Preferably that you don't work outside of the home. Dogs with issues need a lot of time, love and attention. But it was so worth it... We can't imagine never having had Lass. I am glad we were able to adjust our lives to hopefully better hers.

I am currently doing some volunteer work for a local rescue group. I am offering my computer skills and I am in heaven. I call it Geeking for Good.. but anyway - one of my tasks is to update/redesign the website. They have a quote on there that I love.. Saving one pet won't change the world, but surely the world will change for that one pet. When I am done with the redesign of the site - I will link to it from the blog.

Is Mat suffering from depression?

Cap'n Steve has been home a week and Mat has not been herself for the last 5 days. She is off her food and hardly drinking water. She is known to be quite the Euell Gibbons of our animals. (Thank goodness not a pooh eater)We figured she ate a "bad mushroom" or some such.. but this is starting to seem more than a bug. I have taken her to the vet, she checks out fine (blood work et all)but she is still off. She is mopey, not very food motivated even when there is chicken or hamburger involved. She is losing weight. This sounds/looks/feels like depression to me.

Mat has never been the only dog. And even though she and Lass had their issues, they each seemed relaxed with the other as long as there was a crate separating them. The cats are all trying to love up on her.. and she just sort of lays there, uninterested.. Moe even tries to get in her dinner bowl while she is eating and she could care less.. When Tucker, numero uno corgi died (3 years ago at age 16), Queen Kiki, our cat, exhibited what we think was depression. She loved Tuck and they would play together..She was "off" for a couple of weeks.

We figure Mat now realizes that Steve is back and Lass isn't - this is not your normal "week apart vacation" that we do once or twice a year with the dogs. I feel for her. She looks and seems very sad. I know how she feels.

Lost and Found - Part 1

What do you do when a beloved animal dies
(our sweet Miss Lass)
that has a special place in your heart?

Well if you are me, and your special loss was a rescue, you notify the rescue group from where you got her. Why? Well, maybe because I know that as a person who has fostered animals before, I always enjoy finding out the good (and the sad) of these animals. It helps to validate my feelings of hopefully helping the animal in some small way. With Miss. Lass, we had a lot of support from our rescue group during some difficult times. They were very appreciative of the email and offered such nice words of comfort for our efforts and our loss.

Sitting at my desk on Tuesday night, looking at Lass' ABCA pedigree papers, I took serious notice for the first time, the previous owner's name. Being the geek that I am, I decided to google the name. I got a hit, and not only did I get a direct hit, I got an email address with it. What to do? What were my feelings? My heart was racing. Do I send an email? What would they think? Would they welcome the information that she lived a long and happy life. Would it stir up emotions in them that they cared not to revisit? Were they a heartless, selfish person who threw away many other things in their life, like they "threw away" their dog..Who was this person? When we got Miss Lass from rescue, we only knew that she was given up because the girlfriend of the owner did not like the dog.. We looked at each other and said "NOT LIKE THIS DOG? How could that be, this sweet sweet animal?"

Miss Lass changed our lives. She challenged us to search the depths of our beings to understand what a committment to an animal meant. Thank goodness we (Steve and I) were both on the same page when it came to Miss Lass. If anything, Steve was even more adamant about her than I was. I will always think of that when I want some sort of gauge of his depth of love for this or any of our animals. Now don't get me wrong.. she didn't change our lives in such a way as to permanently hinder us in anything going forward. But for the last 7 years we have not been able to be away from home together more than 4-5 hours at a time. We always had to be aware of the weather too, lest we be away and a thunderstorm occurred. But we adapted and really didn't feel it was much of an imposition except when there were times we got the itch to travel again. It was hard for us to believe our last trip together was in 2001.

I sent the email. A short, somewhat curt email, that asked if this was the correct party that gave up Miss Lass to rescue in 1998. If this was the party to whom I was emailing, I said I didn't know if they would be interested in knowing that we had adopted the animal, loved her very much and had her for almost 10 years and that we had to put her down. I said there was no need for a response to the email.. I didn't want the recipient to feel obligated to engage in a dialogue. I probably put that last statement in as much for me as for the recipient because I wasn't sure I was doing the right thing. What did I hope to accomplish by sending this email? I didn't really think this through. I just knew I was hurting for a dog that I loved very much and I was home alone and spending a lot of time thinking about her and I really wished Steve was home to give me the hugs that I know we both could use.

The next morning, I received a reply...I was suprised and I think you will be too..but first I need to answer their reply before I continue this post.. that is why this is Part 1..

Sad Times

The Passing of a Beloved Companion

Miss Lass 12/21/93 – 08/01/08

Our Miss Lass came to us in late 1998 by way of Appalachian Mountain Border Collie Rescue. Everyone thought she was about 2 years old when we adopted her, but to our surprise, when we obtained her ABCA registration, she was 5 years old. She was a sweet animal from the beginning, but definitely had some idiosyncrasies. She did not know what toys or treats were and had no desire for the Frisbee or thrown tennis balls. We tried her in agility and she was not enthused. She did not seem interested in herding. She grew to love treats, but never developed an interest in any of the "normal" dog activities. She was smart and did well with obedience training. She tolerated the cats, and preferred to spend her time jumping at the grass and barking. We came to refer to this activity as herding bugs. She loved to be sprayed with the hose.

I mentioned that she was sweet. She was a gentle dog with soft eyes and would let you do just about anything to her up until she was around 12 or so, and like most of us, she started to get a bit cranky as she got older. She used to love to have her back scratched and would gladly sit for you as you rubbed or brushed her back. She also loved her rides. Every errand that we ran, weather and time permitting, she was along for the ride.
She was very much loved by us and she will forever remain in our hearts.
Lass, we hope that we have helped you to go gently into that dark night and that there are no more thunderstorms and only beautiful warm sunny days with cool breezes.
We love you very much.

A Shaved Leg for the Summer Season

Mat is doing very well after her surgery. We only had to help her with the steps 2 times, then she was maneuvering them as she did before the surgery. In fact - she is pretty much using the leg exactly as she did before surgery. Hopefully as she gets better over the next couple of months she will be putting more and more of her weight on it. At least that's the plan.. We need to be careful these next several weeks as she starts to feel better on it. She must not run or trot on that leg..I can see her getting better each day and she is starting to want to trot up to the bunnies in the yard so I guess I better get the leash out....
Speaking of bunnies. It's like Watership Down around here. Not that the bunnies need to leave - but we have many more this year... probably because Cali, our neighbors outdoor cat died last summer, so there has been no major predator. We have had several tiny guys take up residence in our front shrubs, crepe myrtles and day lillies. I just can't seem to get a good picture of the little guys... Anyway, it has been a fun season with so many ducklings and bunnies.. now I might not be saying that next year if we decide to do a garden. I may be cursing those wascally wabbits... but for now, they are welcomed and seem to know it. One day I hope to get a picture of the rabbits, squirrels and ducks together all having a nibble on the cracked corn we leave out for the ducks...it's a sweet scene...

And the Answer Is....

So What will Tiger Woods and my Mattie have in common this summer?

Both will be recuperating from Cruciate Ligament surgery.




This is Mattie's second surgery for this injury. She tore her CL 2.5 years ago on her left knee. She evidently tore her right knee about a month ago, although it was just diagnosed last week. She has been limping around for several weeks and we all thought it was arthritis. Then I took her back to my wonderful vet up here (who performed her first surgery) and he took a closer look and confirmed the tear. X-Rays showed no significant joint arthritis in her hips, a couple of places in her spine (to be expected on older dogs) and he said that when looking at the knee and examining her while she was sedated, the injury appeared to be older than 10 days, which was when I thought she might have been sustained the injury. In a way I am glad because I thought perhaps she had injured herself in the act of walking, which would be highly unusual. We had the set of X-Rays done after we spoke with our other wonderful vet down in Hudson. His concern was that if she had injured herself walking, that there was the possibility of something else going on in the leg such as osteosarcoma. Luckily no signs of bone cancer were evident in any of the X-Rays. I feel so thankful to have wonderful, and I DO MEAN WONDERFUL vets, both up here at the cabin and in Hudson. I don't know what I would do without them. The recovery is around 4-6 months. I felt so bad taking her in this morning. First for not figuring it out sooner, and second, because she seemed to adjust to it very well, with the aid of the miracle drug Rimadyl. But I have to believe the surgery is the absolute best thing for her, though in the short term it seems like such a torture. I have a lot of sympathy for her.. (and Tiger) - I severed my achilles 11 years ago and it was very painful and a long recovery. So this summer Tiger and Mattie will be rehabbing... just not together.. (could you imagine?) Oh Well..

Below is included for those who want to know more about Ruptured Cruciate Ligaments in canines:


Ruptured cranial cruciate ligament in dogs (CCL)
Ruptured cruciate, Ruptured ligament, Ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), Torn ACL, Torn ligament


Affected Animals:

Commonly, dogs and humans; less commonly, cats. Obese animals are at greater risk for suffering this injury. In addition, certain breeds of dogs are more susceptible than others to developing a ruptured cruciate ligament. Most commonly, these breeds include the rottweiler and cocker spaniel. The Labrador retriever, German shepherd, mastiff, golden retriever, miniature and toy poodle, Lhasa apso, and bichon frise are likely to suffer from the problem as well.

Overview:A normal dog's knee joint works like a hinge, keeping the animal's leg stable as it bends. When the knee has a ruptured cruciate ligament, the "hinge" becomes loose and no longer functions as effectively. This looseness prevents the knee from maintaining stability of motion. As a result, the dog suffers pain, inflammation, and eventually develops arthritis. This is a very common orthopedic disease in dogs.

When a knee injury occurs suddenly -- as it usually does among humans who suffer from injuries to the cruciate ligament due to a skiing, football, or other sports-related accident -- the ligament will tear rapidly. But usually with dogs, the tearing is partial and occurs gradually, resulting in low-level lameness that may improve initially over time. However, progressive injuries can be quite damaging; because of the trauma to the ligament, the knee joint becomes inflamed, leading to arthritis, which only grows worse with continued weight bearing.



1. Trochlea of femur
2. Tibia
3. Fibula
4. Cranial cruciate ligament
5. Caudal cruciate ligament
6. Lateral meniscus
7. Medial meniscus

In more severe chronic cases, the "shock absorbers" of the knee -- quarter-moon shaped sections of cartilage called the medial and lateral menisci -- tear or become crushed because of exposure to abnormal stress that occurs when the knee is loose. Animals with this condition often are severely lame and may not be able to put any weight on the affected leg.

Both surgical and non-surgical methods for treatment are available. Generally, dogs have a good chance of recovering normal, or almost normal, movement after surgery, but the arthritis that has occurred already will not be reversible. Additionally, dogs that have ruptured the cruciate ligament on one side are more likely to tear the ligament in the other knee.

Obesity is a major risk factor for this injury and certain breeds of dogs are more likely than others to rupture their ligaments.

Clinical Signs:
Clinical signs include acute non-weight bearing lameness; chronic progressive lameness; crepitus; pain; decreased range of motion; presence of medial buttress; presence of meniscal click; stifle effusion; thickened joint capsule; positive cranial drawer test; positive tibial compression test; reluctance to sit with normal flexed stifle tucked under the body; and inability to rise or walk if the condition is bilateral.

Symptoms:
Rear limb lameness, sudden onset lameness that either improves slightly and remains chronic or worsens again. The affected knee may feel thicker than the normal one. The dog may sit with its injured leg held out to the side, rather than tucked up underneath. The lameness should worsen with exercise. The knee may sound "crunchy" when put through a range-of-motion test.

Description:
Found in every joint of the body, ligaments are bands of tough, fibrous tissue that hold two or more bones in proper position. One of the ligaments that stabilizes the knee joint when the leg bends and moves is called the cranial cruciate ligament. When this cruciate ligament becomes loose, it is no longer able to ensure stable movement, and damage to the cartilage in the knee joint, leading to arthritis.

Ligaments are very strong tissues, but once they are damaged, they tend to heal slowly and incompletely. In people, cruciate ligament tears are often the result of rapidly occurring trauma, such as injuries resulting from skiing, football, soccer, and other sports accidents. Although this type of injury can also occur in dogs -- jumping up to catch a Frisbee, for example, can cause rapid trauma -- ruptured cranial cruciate ligament injury in the canine usually occurs progressively, over a period of time. There is often a partial tearing, which may show up as a low-level lameness and appears to improve in days to weeks. This partial tearing sets up inflammation within the knee joint, and the weakened ligament is further damaged with continued weight bearing. Eventually, this leads to complete rupture.

Due to a possible genetic component, some breeds, such as the rottweiller and cocker spaniel, are very prone to this disease. They may have some underlying genetic, conformational, or inflammatory disorder that predisposes the ligament to rupture; their susceptibility to the injury is a topic of research at many veterinary institutions. Obese animals are also at increased risk for this disease. However, dogs of all sizes and breeds can develop ruptured cranial cruciate ligaments.

Dogs with a ruptured cranial cruciate ligament in one knee have a 20 to 40 percent chance of injuring the other side, making a full recovery less likely.

Diagnosis:
The diagnosis of a ruptured cranial cruciate ligament usually can be made upon physical examination. Two tests, the positive cranial drawer test, and the positive tibial compression test, will confirm the diagnosis. The positive cranial drawer test, in which the dog's knee is bent slightly and pressure is applied to the bones comprising it, is performed to check for instability within the joint. A positive tibial compression test also assesses the stability of the knee joint; this test may be more sensitive in detecting looseness in heavily muscled dogs. It may be necessary to sedate large dogs before performing the test. When the injury is chronic, the cranial drawer and tibial compression tests may be less effective assessments because their results will be more difficult to evaluate, since the body will have built up scar tissue in the joint capsule in an attempt to limit the abnormal motion.

If the dog's meniscal cartilage -- the knee's "shock absorbers" -- has been torn, the veterinarian may feel a "meniscal click." Thirty to 50 percent of dogs that have knee joints with chronically ruptured cruciate ligaments will experience damage to their cartilage, resulting in arthritis. X-rays can help confirm the diagnosis and give an indication of how much arthritis already is present. This information may be important for determining prognosis. X-rays can also rule out diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and fractures that may display similar symptoms.

Occasionally, the veterinarian will obtain and analyze a sample of joint fluid in an attempt to rule out other types of arthritic diseases. However, this procedure usually will not be performed unless there is suspicion that an underlying disease is causing the ruptured cruciate ligament.

Prognosis:
The prognosis depends on a number of factors. The longer the injury has been present, the more arthritic the joint and the more guarded the prognosis. If the meniscal cartilage is torn, the prognosis is more guarded as well. Obese animals tend to recover more slowly than animals in good shape. Animals with torn cruciate ligaments on both sides take longer to recover than animals with an injury on only one side. Dogs with underlying diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, or immune mediated polyarthritis have a decreased prospect for a full recovery.

In general, animals stabilized with any surgical technique will require three to six months of rehabilitation. After that time, depending on how arthritic the joint was before surgery, they should return to fairly normal activity levels, although they are unlikely to regain 100 percent of their pre-injury function. These dogs may be sore after heavy exercise and occasionally may require pain medication. Athletic animals will have some decrease in function and will be unlikely to return to competition. Hunting dogs may not be able to hunt as frequently or for extended periods of time as they did prior to injury. The TPLO- surgery is purported to be able to return animals to performance levels; however, definitive objective studies have not been published to date.

Transmission or Cause:
The cause can be traumatic, or can occur as a result of chronic inflammation in the knee joint. There may be no known cause to the inflammation. However, the ligament may rupture as a result of the following diseases: medial patellar luxation, a disease in which the kneecap pops in and out of joint; rheumatoid arthritis; lupus; immune mediated polyarthritis; septic arthritis, an infection in the joint; osteochondrosis, which is a cartilage development problem; and problems related to the animal's build or body conformation.

Dogs that are obese are much more likely to develop this disease than dogs that are of normal weight. In addition, certain breeds are more prone to developing the disease, especially the rottweiller and cocker spaniel.

Treatment:
The treatment for this disease can be surgical or non-surgical. Non-surgical management consists of exercise restriction, anti-inflammatory medications, physical therapy and weight loss. These therapies can be effective in very small animals such as cats and dogs weighing less than 15 pounds, although these animals will develop some arthritis, they may regain almost normal function.

Most veterinarians will recommend surgery for treatment of a ruptured cranial cruciate ligament. The many surgical procedures that are available for treatment can be organized into three basic categories: intracapsular stabilization, extracapsular stabilization, and a patented procedure called the Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy® (TPLO).

Intracapsular ligament replacement involves either transplanting tissue from other parts of the dog's body, such as the patellar ligament or fascia lata, into the knee joint. Other options for ligament replacement include a synthetic graft made from materials such as Gore-Tex® or ligament from a tissue bank. The goal of intracapsular ligament replacement is to position the replacement ligament in an anatomically correct configuration.

Extracapsular stabilization stabilizes the knee joint, using materials such as fascia lata, which is a strong fibrous sheet of tissue surrounding the muscles in the outside of the leg, monofilament nylon or other suture material, or stainless steel wire. Fibular head transposition is an extracapsular technique that allows another ligament in the knee joint, the lateral collateral ligament, to replace the function of the cranial cruciate ligament. These techniques are not performed inside the joint; rather, they function to counteract the instability in the joint by acting in a manner similar to an intact cranial cruciate ligament.

Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy® (TPLO) is a technique that utilizes a different approach to treating cranial cruciate ligament injury. Rather than trying to oppose the forces acting on the cranial cruciate ligament in the normal knee joint, a TPLO® eliminates these forces -- and thus the need for a cranial cruciate ligament -- by changing the anatomy of the knee joint. This procedure requires that a bone cut be made in the tibia, which is then stabilized with a specialized bone plate. Only veterinarians that have been trained and licensed by the developer of the technique are permitted to perform this surgery. In general, dogs weighing less than 40 pounds are too small for this procedure.

There are advantages and disadvantages to each of these techniques. The results of these procedures are generally very good; however, some surgeries are more promising than others for complete return to function. There also can be substantial differences in cost and recovery time. A veterinarian can detail these surgical options and further explain the various procedures. Although cruciate ligament surgery can be very demanding, many veterinarians have a great deal of experience and success with these procedures.

Rehabilitation regimens vary, but most veterinarians recommend range-of-motion exercises, gradual return of activity, swimming, weight reduction, and pain medication.

Prevention:
While prevention of injuries is difficult, there are some factors that can decrease the likelihood of rupturing a cranial cruciate ligament. First and foremost is avoiding obesity. A veterinarian can assess the dog's body condition and provide guidelines for a healthy diet and ideal body weight. Exercise is also important for dogs, just as it is for people, since a daily exercise regimen will lessen the likelihood of injury. Because animals with other orthopedic diseases of the knee joint, such as a luxating patella, may be more prone to cranial cruciate ligament rupture, early surgical correction of such orthopedic problems is an important preventative measure.


Copyright © 2006 Vetcentric.com, Inc.
All Rights Reserved – Reproduced by permission.

What do these two have in common this summer?

And as you are pondering this little teaser.. I will take a minute and editorialize a bit.. I will unveil the answer next Wednesday...

This is not just a post about golf or sports in general, but if you don't want to continue reading , I understand. Feel free to go on to something you find much more interesting than my dribble.. my feelings won't be hurt - I promise.. but please do come back.. I will miss you if you don't!

Okay - if you didn't see any of the last two rounds or the playoff round of the US Open (for Golf)- you missed an outstanding show of competitiveness, perseverance, skill, determination, and CLASS on both Tiger and Rocco's parts... it was one of the great sports moments I have ever watched - especially the playoff round. My hat's off to Rocco Mediate, and I am sorry that he lost, but if he had to lose to someone, in the fashion that he did, I am sure he must be satisfied that it was to Tiger Woods..In this day and age, I watch the world with jaded glasses. This is something that comes with age as I remember clearly being 20 something and optimistic. I am not pessimistic mind you, but I am dubious of most everything. Sports stars are paid too much, whine too loud, and overall just not the role models that people make them out to be. Well these two men make me believe there is a Santa Claus, at least in sports figures. I can remember watching a few events like this. Curt Schilling in game 2 of the 2004 World Series - BoSox vs Cardinals

and Keri Strug in the 1996 Olympics - which I was fortunate enough to witness in person. My friend Teresa and I knew we saw something pretty incredible that day.

Anyway - just wanted to say it's always good to read about or witness events that are uplifting such as these. Events that show the human spirit at its' best certainly aren't limited to sports. Too bad our political system never even comes close to producing moments such as these. I have to say Al Gore's concession speech in the 2000 election was a rare moment of class in politics and political history, though certainly what lead up to that concession speech was pretty much like a spoiled child trying to get their way. Okay - time to get off the soapbox...

A Love Affair From the Beginning

Many of you know Mattie, one of the two remaining dogs that seems to tether Cap'n Steve and myself to home. Now she doesn't do that by any conscious effort on her part, we seem to make that decision on our own. But she is THE dog... She is MY dog.. She is THE Mattie.. an 11 yo Australian Shepherd that is huge, at least as female Aussies go. She is the apple of my eye, the "chosen child", the bossiest dog, the loyal companion, my love. She is fodder for the camera and my eternal practice of depth of field..since I have no small children to practice with, she suffices and is willing to do so, thanks in no small part to several obedience classes! She is smart, and unfortunate for her, and me, she was the first dog I ever really trained. We did obedience and agility and she was a quick study at both. She loved the frisbee and tennis ball and still does, but a torn ACL 2 years ago has put an end to those days. When I first laid eyes on the cabin, my first thought was not of our desires for a home out of the city, but how great this would be for the dogs (4 at the time, 2 corgis, Lass the BC, and Mattie). She spent the first several years in the river. She could not be outside playing without taking a dip or two. She was 2 when we purchased the cabin, and they seemed meant for each other. She chased rabbits, geese and turkeys, made peace with ducks and squirrels..She barks at passers by on HER river, letting them know that she sees them and they are on "her turf". Her days now are pretty content to hang around the groomed areas (4.5 acres), even staying loyally by my side as I do my chores. She loves summer as it brings the wild blackberries that she pulls from the thorny vines with ease. She relishes fall because it brings wild cherries which she gorges on until we make her come in, as we try to avoid the inevitable regurgitation of 10 too many cherries. She is showing the signs of aging. Her stiffness in the cool damp mornings has me feeling sorry for her. As I reach for Ibuprofen for myself, I check to see if she is in need of Ascriptin or Rimadyl. Rimadyl, now there is the drug of choice in our home.. When Tucker (numero Uno Corgi) began using it 6 or so years ago for his arthritis, and I got my dog back, so to speak.. I have been buying in bulk ever since.. Bogey (numero dos Corgi) was on it for 3 years, and Lass has been on a daily regime for the last year. I pop Mattie a Rimadyl on the really cold evenings/mornings, but as summer approaches and the weather warms, she will be fine without - at least for this season.. I fully expect within a year or so for her to be on the daily regime of this miracle drug. She will be the last to go of the dogs, and probably in the not too distant future. I can't imagine this place without her, but hopefully for me I won't have to for awhile.

Our Old Dog(s)

We're going through some difficult times with our dogs these past few years. They have aged and are passing on leaving us with fond memories and holes in our hearts. When the animals come into our home, it's never with the thought that they will exit in somewhat the same succession as they came in, but they do. First it was Tucker, the best dog in the world, who left us at age 16, close to 4 years ago, then Bogey, who at 16 departed (after hanging on to three and 1/2 legs for 3 years).. gosh it's been 15 months now. The remaining dogs, Lass, the camera shy BC is 15 or 16 - I can never remember exactly unless I look at her papers, and Mattie - who is now 11. Lass pretty much spends all day sleeping now. She's an "under" dog - prefers to sleep under things if she can. The sign of a true old dog is sleeping all the time. She still loves her dinner and her treats of which we now freely give her. When we first came to Florida, for the winter,4 years ago, she would easily walk a couple of miles every Sunday with us to get the Sunday paper. Now she barely walks the shortened walks we call poop and pee.. The winters down here have been a godsend for her. We are convinced it has prolonged her life along with arthritis drugs. The vets all gush what great shape she is in for an old dog, but we see a marked deterioration this season. Lass, Kiki and Squeek are getting ready for the journey back up to the cabin on Saturday. Cap'n Steve left this past Saturday with Mattie and Mo. It's getting tougher for her to ride in the car the 9+ hour trip. I hate this part.The deterioration. I love these animals so much. I can take comfort that we provide a loving home for them and can afford luxuries like top notch vet care and winter homes, but the human I am, I want the things I can't give them, unlimited time with good health.