nopin

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Another spring approaches

We have just finished spring break and holy cow it was the least of a break I'd ever had! It's crunch time for graduate students defending theses planning to graduate in spring, and I had drafts to review and defenses to attend. In between, the dogs' daily run has taken more time as Queen Thistle has begun to slow down, and her shoulder has started to bother her quite a bit. On her better days, she walks the full 3-mile loop with her seesters and me, and they are super patient with her pace, which is especially impressive from Raven, the young'un.
However, sometimes Thistle's shoulder bugs her too much for her to do our longer walks with her seesters, so I drop her off at home after a short jaunt and we continue without her. It's hard. Without her, I feel rudderless, and some mornings I am so upset that I can't even run. We just walk our loop.
Although when we get home we generally find her waiting with perfect equanimity.
Sometimes I struggle with watching her age. For example, when she declines to eat her breakfast, it ruins my day. When she gobbles down her breakfast AND does our whole walk, I am so happy I am giddy! But then I get all upset again if she doesn't finish her supper. I know this isn't "healthy" at all, and I'm trying to apply to myself the wisdom that I already know: That is, she *will* leave us one day, but in the meantime, there is no point in pre-suffering when the pain has not come yet! It's something I tell my friends all the time, but struggle to apply to myself. She still surveys her yard at least once daily, and that always lightens my heart.
And sometimes she trots around so quickly I can't even catch her in a photo!
The other bit of wisdom that I am forever reminding others but struggle to embrace myself, is to let her be my guide. My Queen Thistle, she is not full of anxiety every day. She loves her life, even though now it's gentler and slower. And she will love her life as long as she can. So, too, should I just be gentle with all of us and love her as long as I can.
Raven is doing great in her skijor training! She's far more disciplined when hooked up with Cricket, but sometimes Cricket runs loose so she can have more fun.
Mmmmmm BELLPEPPERZZZ!!!
We love BELLPEPPERZZZ!!!
Yay! BELLPEPPERZZZ!!!
Pi day was last week! I made a rhubarb pi!
It came out good!
I wish all 12 of my loyal readers a happy spring!!

Friday, February 23, 2024

These flippin' dang dingdong dagdoofus DRRRRR DOGS!!

OK so as we were taking of this morning for our run, I had not fully hooked the latch attaching them to my belt, which is totally my fault, I get that, but (any musher or husky owner will know what happens next). Did they say, "Oh hey you aren't attached to us! Let us wait for you!" Oh no of course they didn't! They took off up the driveway and up the road like they were launched from a slingshot, I'm sure wearing giant shit-eating husky grins, dragging their lines like bats out of hell. Did Thistle's bum shoulder bother her? Suddenly--A MIRACLE!--Not at all! Did Cricket, my cuddly Reliable Dog With Good Recall come back? Guess! NO, SHE DID NOT.

I have had their line break before, and they toodled to a stop and waited for me, but did they do that today? No, they did not. They saw Raven up ahead and decided that they needed to go follow her.

Yes, my friends. My loyal, faithful Iditarod veterans saw a choice between sticking with the puppy they have known for seven months, and the loving human who has been providing food, shelter, and medical care for half their lives. Tenderly nursing them through their illnesses. Buying $5 a pound prescription food. Cooking special food for them when they are feeling poorly. Anyway of course they chose to chase the puppy.

WEEEEEEEEE up the road they all went!

Fortunately for me (and those idjits), The Bs are right up the road, so I hollered, "HI DB!!" as if she were there waiting to greet us. And it worked. They all ran up to her porch like "HI AUNTY DB! IT'S US!" And she opened the door, they all ran in, and that was their aborted adventure.

And I said some Bad Words.

The End

They are lucky they are cute. Look at these totally unrepentant faces.

NO RAGRETS!!!

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Climbing out of BRRRRRR!!!

Last Sunday, temperatures climbed above -30 after nearly three weeks. (!!) Now it looks like warmer weather is holding, and we get to thaw out our butts for real. It had been a long time since we'd had a cold snap that long and that intense. Check it out:
I used quite a bit of leave time to stay home, keep the fire going, and manage dog walks. Queen Thistle still wanted to go for walks in these temps, but I wanted to keep an eye on her arthritic shoulder. Princess Cricket only wanted to run outside, poop, and dash back home. Ravey Gravy wanted to walk same as usual, but I cut her off to two miles. Look how frosty I get after just two miles in -40!
Raven has no problem! Her coat is astonishing. I'm really surprised she's only 30% an Arctic breed. Her coat is as thick as any pure husky's.
The middle-aged ladies, however, were content to remain behind after a quick poop-n-dash walk:
Since for three solid weeks, all I'd have to report would be "Butt cold today! Butt cold today, too! Another day of butt cold!", I will share instead food photos! It is amazing how rich our diets get when it's butt cold. Soooo without further ado... GRILLED CHEESE!
FLY LICE!
OMELETTES!
MAC N CHEESE!
PIZZA!
HUEVOS RANCHEROS WITH FRESH GUAC!
RAZOR CLAM CHOWDER!
BRAISED MOOSE RIBS WITH WINTER VEGGIES!
LASAGNE!
SALMON CHOWDER!

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Notes from Here and There

"Um. Excuse us but iz... Iz that brocky you are cutting up? Because we like brocky."
Mmmmmm brockystem for Cricket!!
Thistle also like brockystemzzzz!!
And Ravy Gravy also like brockystemzzzzz!!
Miss Raven also likes to be squozen.
Cricket has always been a cuddler.
Thistle does not get squozen. She gets Respectful Petting. It is funny how cute she is though, and her personality does not match the cuteness at all. Her breeder/musher says that she may appear to be "sweet, soft and snuggly but really, she could chew nickels and spit nails." That makes me laugh! It's a perfect description. Even now, at 13, she will not slack off from her duties on the trail and around the house.
She's on Librela now. It's a new drug that's only recently been approved in the U.S. for pain management in elder arthritic dogs (NOT, it should be stressed, for young dogs), and it's been working miracles around Fairbanks, which has, as you may well imagine, a very large population of retired athletic dogs who are otherwise in great shape but have joint and muscle pain. Thistle's been on it for just over a month, and it seems to work well! It was difficult to tell at first, because her shoulder gimpiness was intermittent, but now it's been over a month and I have not seen her limp since! And--best sign of all--she now insists on accompanying Raven and me for Raven's 2nd and 3rd walks of the day! Cricket usually opts to remain on the couch, which is fine because she gets in her morning run.

It's also great not to have to stress out Miss Thistle's liver with Rimadyl, especially since she no longer has a spleen to help process it.

It's a monthly injection, but unlike Adequan, you aren't allowed to do it at home. So Thistle has a monthly vet tech appointment now. I also have them trim her nails because hey, if we are here monthly, why not outsource the struggle? She does not appear to be any less stressed, but I am less stressed. Hahahaha. Raven and Cricket but accept nail trimmings with dignity, so just think, I will not struggle to trim a dog's nails again for a very long time!

I got some skijoring video the other day. Look at my Goodest Good Girls!
Ravey Gravy's skijoring training is going great! After I unhooked Cricket, she successfully went "on by" a pair of loose dogs All By Herself! First time! They looked friendly, and bouncy too, which is exactly her type she likes to engage, so she was definitely displaying discipline! She has now successfully on-by'ed: People, meese, squirrels, loose stranger dogs. The only thing she cannot resist now is a dog who is already a Friend, but I can hardly blame her for that! I mean when I'm walking around campus and see a friend, I stop and visit for a bit, too But wouldn't it be comical if I shouted "ON BY!" and marched on past? I ought to try that on days when I'm not feeling sociable.

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Snowsy Photos

I took a photo of Raven on the ridge today that reminded me of one I have of my Roo Bear.
I read somewhere that the time of your acute grief is over when the memories make you smile instead of cry. I have mostly gotten there with Autumn and Linden, and I can feel that peace coming with Roo. Raven has helped a lot. When I first lost Roo, I wanted another black dog, but stopped myself because it's not right to try to replace a Friend. You can't do that, and it would be weird! But just as Thistle carries echos of Autumn, Raven carries echoes of Roo, and it's a great comfort, and it came after the healing had mostly smoothed out (3 years in both cases), so no weirdness!

Here are some Super Important Dog Portraits. Cricket was just sitting pretty so I snapped her photo.

Getting Raven to sit nicely is no problem. She's a people-pleaser!
With Thistle it's a bit harder, but I got my triptych!
The light was pretty at the time we were at the dog park last week, so I got Raven to pose with her ball.
"We're losing daylight! Throw the ball!!"
"Thistle, would you like a bok choy stem?"
"Mmmm, Cricket likes bok choy stemzzzz!!"
"And Raven, too, likes bok choy stemzzzz!!"
A lot of people joke about doing "couch marathons", but Thistle does them for real! She even runs at full speed: both front legs, then both back legs.

Monday, November 20, 2023

Happy Winter Indeed!

A few days ago I heard something compelling on a radio program that I don't want to forget, so I'm going to jot it down here. It said that atheists often scoff at organized religion because they say that you should not require religion in order to be a good person. If you are only a good person under threat of eternal damnation, then you are not a good person. I'd heard that before, and while I kind of agree on the surface, the reality is quite different. Firstly, I think if people are forced to be nicer and to behave decently, no matter what the reason, it makes for a better society. But secondly, and more importantly, I think the actual premise is false. I have never met anyone who was a cruel person but kept it buried due to religion. I know kind religious people, kind atheists, cruel religious people, and cruel atheists, so that fills every slot on the grid. But anyway--moving away from my navel and back to my radio program--the person then went on to say, religion is not useful as a moral code to make us be kind to one another. More people seek religion to find answers to unanswerable questions, chief among them being: Why are good things and bad things meted out so unfairly in this world? Why do good people suffer, and why do we see "bad people" go unpunished? Those, I think, are very good questions for both philosophy and religion to tackle.

Anyway, moving on... We have had several lovely snow dumps, and there is now enough to ski! Raven has proven to be an ace skijorer, and nailed it from the get-go. Her first time, she was pulling like a champ and solid on "gee" and "haw". Her second time she had grasped "on by", declining even to chase a SQUIRREL!! when I shouted "on by" at her. She is so smart that she realized after several times stopping to sniff things and me almost crashing into her, that that was just not gonna work. So now she lines out and keeps constant tension in her line like a champ!

I had been a little apprehensive about taking her skijoring the first time because she's my first dog who'd never been a sled dog. In theory, being hooked to two experienced, seasoned veterans is a perfect way to train an untrained dog, but Thistle and Cricket are so much older that I was leery of doing that because I didn't want her yanking them around and stressing out their old joints. So I started her completely alone. Under such circumstances, it's rare to get a dog who gets the hang of it immediately without learning from another attached dog, but Raven is a total pro!
In retrospect, I think all of our walking and running on the roads since June, when she was attached to my pros, was really excellent training for her: She learned her commands, figured out how to manage tuglines, how to untangle herself if she got tangled, etc. So the switch from me being on foot to me being on skis only added one new element: The issue of momentum. But she learned that in an hour! But this, apparently, is great training!
My goodest good girl! So smart!
Last weekend I finally deployed the schema I had envisioned when I first started thinking about bringing her home back in June. It worked beautifully. Now that I know that Raven is a wonderful skijor dog, hooking her with Cricket was no problem either. They good are good friends and work well together.
I had planned for Thistle to be a loose leader but she wanted to hang in back and is more like a loose caboose. She started a new drug called Librela that supposedly has done wonders for other elder arthritic dogs, but I just don't want her pulling any more. I hope it doesn't hurt her feelings. I tell her she is still our leader no matter what, and I always feed her first.
Another skier with a loose dog was approaching. All did great! He also had an elder statesdog.
Raven is also bonding with DL, although I am still her favorite.
Mmmmm CARTZ! Cricket loves CARTZ!
And Raven loves CARTZ!
And Thistle loves CARTZ!