And life goes on....

Been four weeks now since Molly split and it is indeed a different place around here. Ya just dont realize how much a 15 year shadow means to you until she is not there. Molly had all the personality in the family and so we all are having to regroup a bit. Dobie is all boy....hand me, get me, do me, play with me and would love it if he could sit in your lap 24/7. Kati is the crazy girl and is coming out of her shell a bit but seems to be a bit slower than I expected.

Molly's new hang out!

I will say she has peed in the house much less in the last 4 weeks than ever. I think only twice and before it was at least every other day if not daily. I know Molly and i were her triggers so there is all good in all things that happen. Cuz i am much less stressed about having to worry about where she might pee next. She and Dobie are playing morning and night these days and really love to get on the bed first thing in the morning and battle it all out. They are so cute and you would think they were puppies just getting up in the morning. Kati will even get up on the bed and inch closer and closer to me in the mornings until she is poking at my hand for rubbins.

She is still going to bed each night about 6 and wont hang out in the living room with us much. However I always thought she enjoyed her sleep more than most and think that was due to the noisy puppy mill environment she grew up in. She loves to sleep and has lots of doggie dreams with quite a bit of doggie noises each night. She really does love sleep time i tell ya.....

I did have to get Molly immortalized in ink......however i could not do that without also adding Dusty, the first born. He was the cutest little pom-chichi you ever saw and stole my heart first....paving the way for Molly and all those after him. Its been a great run of 30 years of dogs in my life and hope for 20 more. They have been the loves of my life and also responsible for many, many smiles and wonderful days..........thanks to all my four legged kids!!

Molly Dog.....

Molly and Dobie sunning in the afternoon...........

Molly made her transition today!! She is up there with Dusty, Kelly-Belly, Bonnie, Sweet but troubled life Willy and Thelma......not to mention the humans like Mom and Dad who are now surrounded with one more mutt!!

I have to say that out of 8 dogs in my lifeline Molly was probably the closest to the perfect dog. Her only bad habit was a little annoying barking from time to time. She never pottied where she was not supposed to even up until the end today. She needed to go outside and pee before we left for the vet so that when she wen to sleep she did not even tinkle her blanket. The last month as been tough for her....there was a real downturn in her health and I am very happy I did not have make the decision to remove her bad glacoma eye. She had a seizure a couple of week ago and one more to day. It was very tuff for the human watching her girl get old..........you can cure old age and that became the reality of it all.

My holistic vet was out of town so she could not come to the house and help Molly move on, so we went up to the conventional vet's office and they had a wonderful little room for us and many others I am sure. I was able to hold her the entire time and she passed quitely in my arms. The cool thing was I able to bring her back home and we hung out for a couple of hours waiting on the cremation company to come pick her up. I should have walked away from the window cuz they kind of just bagged her up and tossed her in the back of the pickup truck but i guess she wont really notice the 110 degrees today. If not so hot and the darn ground so hard......i would have buried her her at home but will bring her little box back and bury it. She loved the heat and sitting out on the proch when when 110 degrees.

Dobie and Kati were both able to sniff on her and say goodbye........but being true to form, they just ran around her and played kind of like a normal day. Dobie then went back to his crate and Kati hung with trying to figure out what all the tears were about. She will be the queen bee now and i am not sure she will do without Molly around to chase her out of rooms and away from me when she was too close. I expect she will raise to the occassion and come even more out of her shell. it was weird only filling two bowls tonight when we have been filling three for almost four years......

Molly and have been buddies for 15 years........she moved from Texas with me and had both of her knees repaired when young. She never really had any other medical problems until the last 8 months or so.............again,hard to cure old age you know. My heart kind of hurts right now. I will many things about Molly, some of those being:

-She loved to get in the garage and eat bugs, or bugs in general. She got stung on her tongue once by a bee.....and that never stopped her from chasing bees.

-She loved to walk the perimeter of the yard, all the way around and when she was healthier she would walk the planter wall and check out everything in there before jumping off the giant leap at the end.

-She loved dinner time.......only recently when trying new meds did she not eat but I dont ever remember her missing a meal. In fact today, she at a full breakfast and we had candy corn and raw sausage treats before going to the vet.

-In the winter she snuk under the covers to sleep right up next to me. When she was very young she somehow managed to end up between my legs snuggled up next to my flannel jammies. If you got out of bed, she found and took over the warm spot.

-Somewhere along the lines she started sleeping in the laundry basket and loved being in a pile of my scented clothes. One leap too many and she hurt her back getting in or out of the basket so that ended for her. So she figured out that if i left a shirt or something on the bed, she would snuggle up on that and from that day forward when I would take off a shirt, she would wait at my feed for me to put it on her bed. Took a a couple of times to figure out what she wanted but to this day she always waited for a dirty shirt to be put on her bed and made it very clear when one was used up and it was time for a new. It always made me smile when she followed me to the dirty clothes hamper.

-She always protected me and her territory........she was a mighty force to be recogned with if she felt like she needed to take care of me or even Dobie from time to time.

Molly rocked.......Kati is sitting quitely at my side in her bed. Dobie is wandering around but that is really nothing new for him. I look forward to Kati coming into her one with the alpha dog gone......and will be interesting to see how she and Dobie evolve as buddies without Miss Molly to keep them in line.

Thanks for a great 15 years Molly......may you rest in peace and be running around up there like the pup I will always remember you as. You were a great girlfriend and will never be forgotten.

Happy Days and Hot Days......

So i guess i knew that summer in AZ would come soon enough. Supposed to be 112 today, so i see some beer and pool time in the very near future. My last post Kati and i were at odds with each other and i am sure you all will be happy to know we are buddies again. She really is too cute to stay mad at very long but she sure does make you sit back and realize there is no need to sweat the small stuff.

This is Kati in her new pocket bed, well not so new now but it was new when she had her picture taking. She loves it, the other two have always had one and i finally found one for her that did not cost the farm. For some reason pocket beds are hard to find now and little logs just love them cuz they can crawl and be safe for bedtime. And she looks pretty darn cute peeking out at ya.

Kati still pees in the house a few times a week but she and i have decided not to let it upset us anymore and just clean it up and go on. Molly is getting older and not near as active and Kati seems to be getting just a bit more active and out of her shell. She and Dobie are playing more and more each day, and i think he is sure ready for it. He is 8 now and she is 6 but play time looks more like pups half their age. Kati and be pretty aggressive when she wants to. I think she has even managed to win a few times......or all the time is more like. She does tire out before Dobie but again 90 degrees out already.

A few weeks ago she just popped up on the bed one morning before anyone was moving around and stuck her little nose under my hand and said "rub me!!" And she would not leave me alone, it was very cute as she stretched all over the place and made sure i could reach her tummy or her back or her neck, pretty much make is possible for me to just keep rubbing her until she was done. I think i gave up first.....best thing of all, Molly did not chase her off the bed. But Dobie sure was making sure he as getting the use of the other hand. All is good in Kati-land this week......look out summer, here we come!!

Crazy dog....

So Kati and i have been together a little over three years now........and i keep waiting for that ahh-haa moment you read about people having or hear about in books, how some dog has made them a better person........what a load of crap. She has done nothing but cost me money in replacing floors, bedding and a good part of my peace of mind.

I swear this dog will be the death of me yet. Three years down the road and she still pees in my house. You read about folks getting two or three good months then a bad day......i get two or three days and then cleaning up pee again. Only good think is i have all tile or wood floors now....so that damage is minimal as long as you don't count my peace of mind. I guess she has to live up to Molly, the perfect dog (picture above)......14 years and the only time she peed in my house was when i forgot to open the dog door after repair people had been there or she was sick. So maybe less than 5 times max, if that many. Kati is even looking at my while i type this and knows she is not in the best favor right now......ya, i am a bad person. I am not the touchy feely tree hugger she should have got ...........but a sometimes cranky -itch tried of cleaning up pee every other day or so. Hell yesterday, was was trying to figure out how to gracefully give her back to the rescue group that felt it was a good thing to let me take her. They have a nice policy that says........always give back to us before you give to anyone else. They are a much kindlier, gentler people that Lisa i tell ya.

So did i mention that we have been hiking and walking out in the real world the last three weekends, hiking at south mountain and walks around Tempe town lake with Dobie and another friend. It has taken three weeks to figure out the right harness/collar and leash to make it all work. She cant walk at a normal pace cuz she is too busy being scared of everything so figured out the flexileash worked perfect. Let her crazy pace keep up with humans steady pace and away we went.........what a nice walk it was until we got back to the car. I need a different car if going to keep carting dogs around..........backseat of mustang just not real user friendly for mutts. So we get Dobie in just fine and i drop the handle of the flexileash and I'll be damned if Kati does not take off at warp speed trying to get away from the leash handle behind her. And i am not kidding about warp speed........passed people in the parking lot, down towards the lake passing other people with dogs out walking..........with me running, at lisa warp speed yelling...stop her if she gets near you. Not a chance, she is not getting hear anyone who can actually help her. So as she hauls ass further away from me i am saved by her ignorance with a wrong turn. Rather than head down the coast of Tempe town lake, she turns away from the coast and finds herself in a corner that has two options..............take a dive and swim or stop and hover, scared out of her mind. But the grace of something, she stops sitting on the edge of the little cement lookout point and cowers while i come running up to her hoping she stays put. And she does....lets me pick her up, we walk about halfway back and i set her on the ground and away she goes walking like nothing has ever happened.

She was a wreck, i was a wreck and seems she only ended up with two bloody paws that seem to be ok now. Hard to tell, but they look ok.....will see how much she messes with them the next few days. Tried to stop for breakfast but that was a bust, too close the road and all that noise is not in her best interest so we left. Did i mention we also got in the middle of the Iron Girl 10k on our walk as well. She did really well until the one or two runners turned into a pack of about 500!!

All i was looking for was a buddy for Dobie, since Molly would not play anymore.........i am a patient person for the most part, but don't think that ahh-haa moment is going to happen for me. We will continue to take it one day at a time and hope one of us is happier than we would have been without each other...........ho hum.

If nothing else, she and Dobie do play for about 10, maybe even 15 minutes on any given day. Which is more than she ever did when she came here three years ago........

And right now, she is sitting out in the sun looking all cute and at peace...........good for her!!

Gettin out......

Ya, we have been away for a while but away does not mean we have not been busy. So the last couple of weeks Kati has been on a new adventure........dog parks and a walk at a lake!!

We have been to the dog park twice now and she is doing great. She does not get more then two feet away from me but she walks on the leash to get there and is really thinking about maybe playing some a bit too. There was this annoying little puppy our last visit that she almost let know how it was gonna be but she chickened out and let him be.

Sunday she went on her first little hike. We were going to the mountain but thought that might be a bit much so just went to the big lake and got in a couple of miles. Those were her first miles and might have been a bit much for the day........since it kind of got warm too!! Afterwards we went to the bagel shop and she sat patiently under the table and enjoyed her little bites of cheese and ham. This is huge step for miss Kati and we are both very excited about........can hardly wait for our next walk later this week!!

Kati fell in the pool......or was she pushed??

Wondered what would bring me back to posting and it seems that Kati falling in the pool today is it. The pool is fenced off and for most of the time inaccessible..........however, when i mow i open the gate and the kids eat flowers and run around. I always look that way when mowing and make sure the water is not moving......well today it was moving and more of a splash i would say. Since the temps have changed, Kati and Dobie have been playing chase like wild banshees and i am guess Kati cut her corner just a bit short.............or she was looking over the edge as she does and Dobie came up behind her and pushed!!

Anyway, she was in the deep end struggling as you would expect. I got her by the collar and then picked her up and away we went to the towel. I did not take the time to notice how interested Dobie was in that she be saved. She was pretty amazing!! Got her all dried off, and away she went............running around like any wet pup does and then back over to the edge of the pool looking at the scene of the crime. Wish it were a bit warmer as i would have gotten in with her and given a lesson on the steps again. She was not the least bit concerned about her little dip and was back chasing Dobie in a matter of minutes.

Word to the wise..........thinking a little dog wont fall into the pool at one time or another is foolish!! Protect your little four legged friends from drowning. It will save you some unnecessary heartache.

Rock on Kati, swimmer girl!! And more updates to come..........i am back in the groove!!

Hello out there......

Everyone says hi and is very happy these days. Things are heating up in AZ as to be expected and the little Kati princess is an angel 95% of the time. Very cute and lovable these days. She is stopping in place more and letting me pick her up for a hug for probably every 3 of 5 times I try. The two off times she is running away and not willing to play along at all. Not sure i mentioned earlier that with Dobie having surgery my bed had to be taken off box springs and the frame so no high jumping............well, Kati can get up on the bed when only six inches off the ground. She likes to pee on it about once a week it seems. Like we went a week with no problem and then two days in a row. I have not figured this one out but getting used to sleeping on a waterproof mattress pad. I feel like a problem kid..........or old lady with a potty problem.......not sure which, but that darn thing sure is hot to sleep on. I think she is triggered a bit by being scared of a noise and pissed off cuz i have done something like left the house or who knows. So now I have extra thick stuff on the bed during the daytime and a big basket, we are trying this week. Plan on putting things back together memorial weekend.........i think Dobie will be as recovered as he is gonna get and there is a step for him anyway. I am sure the carpet being gone and the wood floor there now, has a bit to do with it.........we will manage through. It really is her only flaw these days.