Whitefish Dog and Home

Living NOW

Hey everypawdy, Maxx here. Ok, I admit my blog posting has been a bit slow and sporadic. Truth is, as a young pupper it has been a bit hard to find “my” voice. Oh I know my Mommers would beg to differ. She hears my voice plenty and we are working hard on controlling that voice, but I digress.

So here we are in the month of May, which is a big one fur us since it is Pet Cancer Awareness Month and also the month that we lost our namesake Buddy. Kind of reaches out and gobsmacks us efurry year. Yup, we get gobsmacked too! Happens to efurrypawdy, don’t think it doesn’t. Some days Mom will sit with a far away look, and she will just kinda go fur a walk with me but be far away. Dogs know this. I want to be more like Buddy, but I’m just a pupper… I can’t write much because I get so many words wrong.

But now? NOW I am two! TWO! It’s like I woke up and have things to say. Ya know I was looking ofur some of Buddy’s old stuff and he was wise, the force was strong with him it was. He barked about how dogs only know one time, and that is NOW. I think it’s a good time to re-visit that concept. Bud was reminding us that when dogs have a bad day, they work through it and then it is over and the next day it is behind them and they are on to a new day.

Same can be said fur having new fur in your life. It doesn’t mean at all that you have to let go of what was, or that special something. Heck no! What ya do have to focus on is NOW. Don’t miss today for yesterday or tomorrow. So go ahead and hold on to that old love, it was real and true! Today, though, today is now and worth enjoying NOW. Making it the best won’t take one bit away from what was and it won’t ruin your chances of a great day tomorrow. Cool how that works. Dogs get that, and I just wanted to pass that along. Just another pearl of wisdom that I like to boil down into the simple phrase: “Be the Dog…”

You’re welcome BOL

There! She Comes!

Hey everypawdy, I’m a new voice here fur most of you… I’m Bob, Bob the Dog. I was the dog before Maxx, and before Buddy. I was the original dog. I was the FURst dog, the one who started it all, who let Mom know that she was a DOG person. Oh she wasn’t so sure at first, she had only had cats before. Pfffffft! She thought I was a lot of responsibility. I ask you, who could resist this face???

So I stayed. Mom and Dad adopted me after seeing my sisfur, Schafer one day. We all lived in Montana and Schafer’s name was short for a beautiful place called Schafer Meadows in a very special place that I was then named after. You see my full name was: Bob Marshall Wilderness Dog, but everyone just called me “Bob.” We all lived in Whitefish, MT which was an extraordinary place to live for a dog. I taught Mom how to “be the dog!” Schafer, of course, helped…

Mom would drop me off at Schafer’s house on the way into town and we would play and gnarl and carry on in her yard. It was great to get to see my sister again even though we lived apart. Our necks were always wet. Schafer taught me how to climb up on the big wood pile her Dad built up for the long winters in the back yard so we could get over the fence and I taught her how to run a-mutt through the neighborhood and not get caught. We laughed and laughed as Mom would run behind us yelling her fool head off, but we had 8 legs between us and she only had 2 and she was just outrun BOL. We always headed back when we were ready. Or how about the time Mom was driving down Wisconsin Avenue right after Shafer had moved to her new house up the hill? Well, it seems Shafer must have wanted to go visit the old house because there, sashaying down Wisconsin (covered in mud I might add) was my sister with a little purpose. Mom pulled over and invited Schafer to get in the car. She was happy to do so as it had been a long walk, then realized she was a bit muddy so shook good. She was a polite one, that girl! The best part was that we looked so much alike that when I got stopped up on Big Mountain where I lived for being off-leash and they would complain to my parents, they would say it must have been Schafer because nobody was gonna argue with the guy who had just won the first World Cup for America in Tele Skiing!!! I got away with a lot using that one!!

Well, the reason you haven’t heard from me much here is because my life was cut very short. I went on ahead to the bridge when I was 8 years old. I was out on one of my epic adventures on the mountain one day and just collapsed. Seems I had a tumor on my heart that nobody saw coming. Hemangiosarcoma ended my life within 3 days. Schafer? Schafer carried on in rare form for me though. She had an amazing family and even got a new brother and a sister (furless) and they did everything together! They camped and they have a cool lodge where she ran the trails and cross-country skied and defined “being the dog.” She did me proud. She LOVED mud puddles and sticks and balls and carried on the legacy perfectly. I thought it would never end the way she carried on… but alas, at 14 Schafer is ready to join me. Her family loves her so, they know that she can no longer “be the dog” the way she deserves, so they are going to release her to come back and play with me again. I feel bad for them, for I know they will miss her. I saw how much my family missed (and still misses) me. But truly, this is such an amazing place… she will run like crazy again and we will be like pups and I am truly quite excited. I saw this parable on the wall up here, it made sense. It was found on the body of an American Jewish soldier, but I think it works for any soul in transition…

“I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails in the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength and I watch her until at length she is only a ribbon of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle whith each other. Then someone at my side says, ‘There! She’s gone!’ Gone where? Gone from my sight – that is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and span as when she left my side, and just as able to bear her load of living freight to the place of destination. Her diminshed size is in me, not her, and just at the moment when someone at my side says, ‘There, she’s gone!’ there are other voices ready to take up the glad shout, ‘There! She comes!’ And that is dying.

And so, I am gathering my most treasured sticks and balls (the ones that are kinda muddy and slobbery) and rushing right to the edge of the bridge. I want to take her paw immediately and be the first thing my sister sees. I have waited for her for 6 years now, and I’m so very excited to see her again. I will take the very best care of her, and there will be great joy in the Heavens!!

A Thief in the Night

We talk a lot about K9 cancer here… How to recognize it, how to fight it, how to help with the fight and how to live with it. Some days though, it just gets personal. This is one of those days.

Last night, Hemangiosarcoma stopped by and paid a visit to one of our dear pack members. You never leave the porch light on for Hemangiosarcoma, rather it shows up uninvited and sneaks in through an unlocked window and steals your most valued treasure. With other cancers you see them coming, or at least you know you’re living in kind of a bad neighborhood. This one? BAM! One strike and you’re out. It happened with our very first dog, Bob, and we had never even considered cancer so when the vet ran that long word by us it didn’t even stick. I have to admit, I couldn’t tell you what Bob died of until our next Golden, Buddy, got cancer and I started doing research. With some Hemangiosarcomas, say of the skin or spleen, you might get a little time. With Bob, it was on his heart. Typically you get hours, maybe a few days to say goodbye. You go from seemingly healthy dog one minute to collapse and incredibly difficult decisions that aren’t really decisions at all. Then all you have left is a beautiful memory looking back at you…

Bob, Looking Back... — Bob, Looking Back…

So that’s how our obsession with fighting the fight began. Last night, that obsession was renewed as the thief returned and quickly took one beautiful soul from this earth. We heard in the afternoon that he had collapsed and he was gone before we went to bed. Mackey was the first big red dog that sat on me (not near me, but ON me) a week after Buddy departed and looked into my eyes and let me know we could go on. He let Buddy visit. He was the gentlest of souls.

Mackey lived a very large life with the coolest family. Did I mention he was a surfur dude?? Yup, one of SoCal’s finest in the day. Even though Mackey was a gifted surfur, his real gift was his kindness and pure presence. He embodied “Being the dog.”

So today we raise a paw to Mackey and his amazing family. We are grateful to all of those, like the Animal Cancer Foundation, that are working tirelessly to crack the code on this beast so it can rob no more. Mostly, we are reminded to recognize when we are in the presence of a pure soul and cherish that moment. Thank you Mackey, and Godspeed my friend.

Christmas Presence

Hey efurrypawdy, Maxx here. I’m still working on finding my voice, but I have noticed something this Holiday season that I gotta share. Now let me remind you, I’m a dog. Ok, take a moment and recover, it’s true. Here’s a picture of me, well, being a dog:

Yup, I’m wearing the forest here. But I digress. So dogs learn slowly about the holidays. We don’t much care if you celebrate Christmas or Hannukkah or Kwanzaa or the Solstice or refuse to celebrate. We have noticed folks just getting crazy this time of year shopping fur the perfect gift.

Crazy right? And then one day I was walking in the forest where I had gathered all of that glorious greenery that Mommers promptly removed when we returned home, and we came upon an awesome sight. Right in the middle of the forest was a decorated tree. All alone. All sorts of ornaments hanging on it. What the woof?? There was a bag hanging from it with a card in it. Mommers went ofur and read the card. WOW. The ornaments were for dogs that had walked that trail before and could walk beside us no more. The angel that started this left a bag of ornaments and a pen. Each day more ornaments appeared. It is such a sacred place in the forest to stop and remember those who we have loved and still love…

And it was then, as Mommers would stop efurry day that it started to become clear to me. What matters most and what stays with humans is presence, not presents. Each of those ornaments represented the presence someone so dearly wished they could enjoy again. Nobody could shop for that. No decorating or lights could make that happen.

Later we walked by a manger scene. I noticed the “wise” men brought gifts that were quite expensive. Mommers explained to me that the baby in the animal straw bed was sent to us from God to let us know we were loved and not alone. I looked up at her and blinked. “Well of course” she said. It WAS completely natural to bring this peaceful being into the world among the original angels. The animals. The animals brought no formal gifts. They were the gifts. They were present. They would not leave until it was safe.

So try not to worry this season or during the coming year so much about fancy gifts or things. Humans worry too much about that! Try to bring the real present… presence. See what someone needs and be there for them.

Furry Days to all, and to all a GREAT night. May all of your dreams come true!

Rescue Me!

Hey everypawdy, Maxx here! I keep walkin around singin that song “Rescue Me” and then I start reciting silly lines from Dr. Seuss books like “Sam I am…” Why? Cuz I have a new Frosty brudda who, WHAT? Oh, sorry, my ~~Mom,~~ editor, tells me he is my FOSTER BROTHER. Anyway, his name is Sam and he just got here last night. This is me meeting Sam:

So let me tell you a little about Sam. He was picked up from a shelter by the great folks at Southern California Golden Retriever Rescue about a week ago. My Dad volunteers for them so we heard about his situation. Seems he was being dumped at the shelter on a black trash bag covered in his own poopy when WHAT? No Mom, I draw the line there, that’s how I talk… Dogs say poopy, they don’t say “feces!” Ok, well, excuse us… He was dirty. Anyway, they were carrying him in like trash. He was very sick and near death. The shelter was just going to put him down. Someone stepped in and called the rescue and they came and got him and took him to the Dogtor. It was touch and go for a few days as his system was trying to shut down and nobody knew why. They cleaned him up and finally realized he was dehydrated and starved. After his initial bath he looked like this, poor guy.

After a few days in the pawspital alone, Mom felt bad that he was probably lonely, so she went to visit him. He liked her very much. He did not know really what a toy was so he ate the toy she brought right away. Oh well, at least he enjoyed that. Then Mom sang to him quietly until he settled and had a big smile and later a doggy dream. She wondered when the last time was he had dreamed??

It was really hard for her to leave him, but she had done what she came to: to show him pure love and that people could love him unconditionally. The next day we got a call that he was ready to come home and they asked if he could come HERE since he seemed to like Mom! Yippeeeee! So here he is, in my house with ME, MAXX! And ya know what? We play and goof and run around. He slept in my room last night and woke up in my bed this morning! I don’t know who was more surprised, him or me??

I don’t know what’s in store for Sam, but I do know one thing if my pawrents are involved… He will never be alone again. He will never be forgotten, starved, neglected or mistreated. Sam will be spoiled on the highest level. He will learn to be the DOG and enjoy life to the fullest and pawty with all of my FURiends and live a very large life. Our only regret is for all of those non-descript pets out there. The ones who are not the “chosen ones” like Golden Retrievers who are watched for and get rescued when dumped at the shelter. Please remember to adopt pets when you are looking to add to your family and if you see something that looks like neglect, say something. Not every dog gets as lucky as Sam. In the meantime, please join us in welcoming this lucky boy with a resounding YAY SAM!

Pet Safety

You know we talk about a lot of stuff here… and a lot of time it’s about things just from a dog’s perspective because frankly, that’s how I see things. I’m a dog after all, and that just makes sense to me. I don’t bark a lot about what my Mom does and stuff because

1. It doesn’t interest me and,

2. She leaves me to do it and does it with OTHER animals.

OK, now that we have all of THAT cleared up, I’m gonna change things up today because actually what she does kinda can help all of us dogs (ok, and dumb cats) even when we are at home so I think we should talk about some of these things. I’ll try to keep it light and fluffy like me a bit, so hang in there. We’ll hit one topic today (oh yeah, she does LOTS of stuff) and then I’ll come back for more.

FIRST we will talk about FIRST AID. Yup, there are rules about it fur dogs and cats! Who knew??? Mom flies around up in those tubes where ya can’t get to a vet so she took classes to learn how to help the pets she flies with in case something goes wrong up there. A very common thing that happens where you might not have time to get to the DOGtor and if you knew a few simple things to do maybe you could change the outcome or buy yourself some time to get to the DOGtor… is choking. They can pick up a stick outside, or even just choke on the same biscuit they eat every day. Mom ran the following video on my Facebook page and it had the most shares ever, so we’ll post it here. This shows 3 ways to help your pet if it is choking:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm2WSjlg0MA

Pretty handy to know to help your pet or possibly someone else’s. What if that pet stopped breathing? Think quick! Know how to do mouth-to-snout breathing?? Know where to check for a pulse? In a dog, you check the femoral artery (back inside thigh) instead of up front. CPR is very similar but a few differences and knowing what they are will make sure you actually do it effectively, like how to find correct hand placement. It isn’t hard at all: just bend the front leg up and where the elbow meets the chest is where the heel of your hand should go. Here’s a good video to show you CPR and give you an idea of what it looks like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJGlsYHI9cU&feature=related

Another biggie that everyone should be aware of who has a dog at home is bloat. Bloat is the common term for Gastric Torsion and it happens more easily than you can imagine. It is most common in large dogs and ones with barrel chests, but can happen in many breeds. It happened to my bridge bro Buddy once after swimming and gulping a lot of water. Gulping air and water together is a common cause, exercise right before or after a big meal is another. Knowing the signs is real important because then you can step in before it gets outta hand ya know?? Often we dogs will pace around and just not get comfortable, maybe paw at our face a bit, act real anxious, the textbook sign is unproductive retching. What has happened is the stomach has turned on itself, often taking the spleen with it. This cuts off the blood supply returning to the heart and in very little time will kill your pet. IT IS ALWAY A REASON TO GET TO THE VET NOW!!!! It is the one reason Mom will always ask a pilot to land the plane! It is like a heart attack for a human, you can’t fix it at home, you need a trauma center. How can you buy time??? Always have a product in the house with Simethicone in it (like Mylanta) to administer because it starts with a gas buildup and you may be able to divert or delay the problem.

Whew, I’m skeerin’ myself here! I sure am glad my Mom knows about all this stuff so I don’t have to worry. If you want to learn about all of this so you feel secure too just contact your local Red Cross and find out when they are giving a class in Pet First Aid, or get online and find out if anyone teaches a PetTech PetSaver class near you. Oh, and if you are wondering about the picture of the Pet Oxygen Masks at the top of the page… Mom always carries those on her flights in case of decompression or fire. You may not feel like you need it in your home, but wouldn’t you feel better if you knew your fire department was outfitted with them so they could help your pets in case of a fire??? Check it out and see if they have them and if they don’t, see if they’ll let you donate some. If they will, give our friends at the Emma Zen Foundation a call and get things rolling. Then your whole town will be protected thanks to you!

What’s In a Name?

My name is Meeko. Confusing? You bet it is! You met me when I came to this house and my new bro, Maxx, introduced me as Skook. That name had a very rich heritage and was not picked without much thought. My new pawrents were so sad when they realized I didn’t even really respond to the name I had at the rescue, Stryker, and they figured I had not even been spoken to much for my 8 months on earth. Later when my Mom was going through my medical papers she noticed all of them had a name on them… Meeko. She came in the room and quietly tried it out, Meeko? My tail thumped. She tried it again… Meeko??? Yes, my tail wagged heartily! Someone knew my name! The one thing I could have carried with me through this whole ordeal that was mine had been returned. Yay Meeko!

I do have a bit of a problem though, I hate my cat bro. It really isn’t my fault, he hated me first. HONEST! He took a big swipe at me and I bit at him. Now he always hisses and swipes and I always bark and pummel and the anger has escalated. Mom and Dad feel bad because the cat has been here for 14 years and has recently lost his brother/littermate and his dog bro Buddy. They also were told that I was part Golden and it seems I really am not which means I will never get to live off leash and run at the dog beach with the others and that would limit Maxx. Let’s don’t sugarcoat this… I HATE that cat!

So today, Dad and I are taking a big car ride to a place that Mom and Dad have carefully chosen for me. There have been a lot of tears, a lot of phone calls, but not once have I not felt love. We want to share a few things with you as we make this journey, so maybe others won’t have to.

Getting a new pet family member is joyous and exciting. Mom and Dad put a lot of thought and work into finding just the right bro for Maxx. They got a bit caught up in the moment though. They saw me and I was beautiful and handsome, well of course. I looked like a Great Pyrenees, which Mom LOVES but knows isn’t quite the right breed for where she lives. But wait! They were told I was 1/2 Golden and my personality was that of a Golden. Well how perfect could that be? They were told I used to bark a lot outside, but that was because I was chained up and then I never barked in Rescue. I had a neat cat encounter and did great, but not with a cat who took a swipe at me. Nobody who walked me had noticed my prey instinct which is very evident by the way I chase and pounce on everything from lizards to squirrels.

Mom now knows she should have had me encounter a cat in the same way I would in this house, the 14 year old cat here always wants to show the new dogs who is the boss and it isn’t the new dogs. She realizes that I never barked at the Rescue because I wasn’t outside on my own. Here I have a great dog door where I can go out on my own. The thing about Pyrs is that we like to protect our property, it’s our job! When I hear something beyond my fence, I have to bark to let my people know!! That is not really fair when you live really close to your neighbors like we do.

My name is Meeko and I am a Pyr. Mom and Dad have realized that as much as they love me, it is not fair to me to try to make me into a Golden Retriever or keep me in 1/2 of the house away from the cat or tell me to be quiet when I do my job. I am a proud, noble breed and I deserve to live where I can be all I can. Mom and Dad have been criticized mightily for thinking of pets as “disposable” for letting me go. No dog is disposable. You adopt a dog for life. It is a lifelong commitment! Because Mom and Dad committed to give me the BEST life ever, they have decided to put their egos aside that tell them they are the only people on earth who can give me a good life. Dad is driving me 9 hours today to a beautiful place and a wonderful person who wants a GREAT Pyrenees. My name is Meeko and I will be noble and proud. Please make sure when you adopt to follow YOUR heart and not somebody else’s desires. Truly, adopting a pet IS a lifelong commitment…

What’s That????

Hi Everypawdy… Maxx here. Wow, what a day yesterday was! It started out pretty normal and all, but then we got in the car for a long car ride. I thought maybe we were going back to the botch and WHAT? Oh, my bad… back to the BEACH, yeah, that does make more sense, thanks Mom. So anyway, it was like that long of a drive and when we got there we went into this place that was like Puppy Play Central!!! Actually, it was Bark n* Bitches, a little slice of dog Heaven in the heart of Los Angeles. This amazing shop does dog rescues and I don’t just mean the warm fuzzy kind that makes someone feel better, I mean the real deal. You go ahead and click on their name above and read about Jimi’s Angels and how the name came about… I’ll wait…

So turns out Mom had seen this guy, Stryker, at their place and fell in love. Mom loves BIG dogs and he promises to be all that. He is about 8 months old and weighs 70-80 lbs already. YIKES! He is 1/2 Golden and 1/2 Great Pyrenees and 100% pure LOVE! He could care less about the dumb cat, but he loves to play with me which is what it’s all about right?? Stryker’s family seemed surprised when he turned into a DOG, so they chained him up in the back yard and left him there. Then they were annoyed when he barked all the time. Well heloooooooooo! So they turned him in to a shelter in the middle of the city where adopting out big dogs is really hard so he was going down. In swooped Jimi’s Angels to save the day. Now we were gonna take him on the adventure of his life. Oh YEAH baby!

Mom and Dad wanted to rename him Skook, because the name had special meaning to them, but waited to see if he was attached to his name. The sad thing is he didn’t even seem to really know his name at 8 months old. That’s how little human interaction he had gotten. So now, we pronounced him SKOOK! Why Skook? Well… Skook was a dear friend of my bridge bro Bob. He was a Newfie and was a neighbor in Montana and was a gentle giant of a puppy. He was a lap dog. He would slide down hills of snow on his belly and wuffle all the way. He was just a ball of love. Skook never made it to his first birthday. He died when his house burned, of smoke inhalation, and never made it out. He is a big reason my Mom is such an advocate of Pet Oxygen Masks on her flights and for fire departments that respond to house fires. Mom and Dad looked at this gentle giant of a puppy who crawled into Mom’s lap in the car on the way home and knew, Skook had come to live with them again! The name Skook is short for the Skookumchuck River in western Washington state where the original Skook’s Dad loved to fish. He is part of a long heritage of the earth and will enjoy everything it has to offer if we have anything to do with it!!

So what was Skook’s arrival at our house like? Weird dudes, weird. We pulled off the highway into our ‘burb and his head started just swiveling! I don’t think he had been off a city street. He saw cars all spread out and motorcycles and stuck his head out the window and just kept going “What’s That?” He was amazed at EFURRYTHING! We got to our house and he got out of the car without a leash and went WTW? (what-the-woof? for those of you uninitiated in dog-speak) and slowly walked around the GRASS in the front yard. The neighbors called him ofur to meet him and he said WHAT? ME?? And so we played and wrestled on a lawn while they all talked and he seemed amazed that nopawdy cared!

Then we went in the house and his head just swiveled up and down lie “What’s THIS?” It was way too much for him. We walked around fur a while and he saw where efurrything was. He stuck his nose into efurrything and said “What’s this?” which was BOL funny to me. He found the punch bowl right off in the master bath, Good Dog! He looked in the tub and said “What’s this?” I jumped up on the bed and of course… “What’s this?” but he came up too so we wrestled up there and he left a lot of slobber on Mom’s pillow. He is a Champion Slobberer! Then we went out back and I ran up on the outdoor furniture and he said REALLY? But then he did and LOVED it! Then he saw the pool. You guessed it… “What’s this?” At first he thought it was the world’s biggest water bowl and leaned down to drink, but nah, it doesn’t taste good. I snickered. Then he walked right over and stepped in like he knew what he was doing. He walked right off the big step and THAT is when we all realized he didn’t really know how to swim. DUDE has NO fear! He paddled back and got out and went right back in. Mom is gonna teach him to swim today cuz he LOVES that pool! Who knew? Then he went inside and made a few selections from the toy box… then he made a few more. Dude LOVES squeekers!

Dad made dinner and he stood up at the counter and said “What’s THIS?” He’s a perfect size for counter surfing. I cannot wait until I’m that big! Then we had another walk and he sniffed every INCH of this neighborhood. It is like he has never seen or smelled a flower before ya know??? Well, maybe he hasn’t? So after the sniff-fest, we came back to go to bed. After about a half hour we realized he had no idea where he wanted to sleep because he had never been invited into the bedroom to sleep before. Mom decided a little structure might make him feel better so set up the huge pen in the bathroom so he could see us. He still cried, so Mom took her blankie and pillas and slept on the floor next to his pen and told him he was home until he fell asleep. He slept all night like I did. This just might work out after all ya know??

I’ll keep ya posted, but any of you lookin’ fur a new doggie… there is nothing like seeing the world through the eyes of a new soul seeing it for the first time. Nothing. Give the gift that only we can give ok? And me? I’ll keep biting him on the ear and train him my way BOL!!

The Greatest Gift…

Hey everyone, Buddy here. So last week I had a bunch of lumps that looked really big and bad and they turned out to be probably a few too many pupcakes BOL! They tend to turn to fat, they were suspiciously similar in shape and size… So I went my merry way playing YAY Buddy every day. For those of you who don’t know, YAY Buddy is the best game! We play every day on my walks. Mom and Dad throw the tennis ball and when I get it, they cheer “YAY Buddy!” If I miss the ball, Mom even yells YAY Buddy. If I poop? YAY Buddy! It is just 45 minutes of adoration and love. In between I do the roll-of-joy and the wag-of-tail and get my belly rubbed. It is pawtastic!

Just one week later came the 14th of the month which is when we do the ceremonial nose-to-tail exam which the great folks at Chase Away K9 Cancer remind us to do each month to check our pets for cancer and I remind my followers to do on Facebook. That’s when Mom found it. She knew what it was, she had seen it before. Four times before to be exact… That black raised lump. She wanted it to be something else but she made the appointment as outlined in my last post, you know; the one that is long enough to allow time to aspirate the mass. So off we went. If it’s Thursday, it must be time to go to the vet right?

I love my vet and she loves me. She even calls me “Monkey” and gives me Cheese Whiz on treats. Cool! We did the deed and sure enough, it was Melanoma #5 for me. It had only been about a 3 month break since my last Mast cell removal and other melanoma. Rats. I was hoping for longer. Then the quiet discussion began, and this is the part we want to tell you about, because it is never easy. There is a LOT to consider and nobody can make your decisions for you. Mom has done a ton of research and this was not her first rodeo so she could make the decision pretty quick. Most will have to ask as many questions as you can and WRITE DOWN exactly what kind of cancer your doc says it is. It will sound like a foreign language to you and you will forget by the time you get in the car. It will be all you can do to drive home without wrapping yourself around a tree that first time so take notes! Ask the doc’s opinion of how to proceed, then go do your homework unless the situation is critical. Mom’s on that computer forever!

In my case, it is melanoma. Melanoma is highly metastatic (will spread easily) when on the paw, mouth or genitals. This is on my back. It is small and new. It is well formed and not irregular. It is in an easy location for Mom to monitor. I am 9 years old and had surgery just 3 months ago. Taking all of that into consideration, I’m not going to remove the growth immediately but rather just hang for a bit. I also have a tendency to grow a few at a time. If we go in and dig out the first one, we will miss the next 2. You cannot just keep putting a dog under anesthesia, especially as we age. The risks begin to outweigh the potential benefit. Factor in the quality of life for me, DOG. Do I really want to be living a life where I’m having surgery every 3 months? Two words: NO WAY! Do I want to just rip that thing right off? HECK YEAH! I’m not in pain. I have not changed since the day before when I did not know of the lump. I present no symptoms of discomfort. So for now, we will live with this bad boy and watch it and look at it:

I’m also on a regimen of steroids to help control and slow this condition and it helps a lot. Still there were a few things said in the appointment and in the last one that gave Mom “paws,” so we are going to seek a second opinion after Christmas with another doc. We are going to go see one with some more advanced equipment who is more focused on cancer. This is ok, and is nothing against the doc we love… but Mom knows she is my only voice and my advocate who has to speak for me. The decision may still be “watch and wait” or “there is nothing more to do,” but then you watch differently. Mom is very careful that I am never uncomfortable because sometimes we dogs get so busy “being the dog” that we don’t show pain, so you have to learn what to look for.

You know what the best part of all of this is? It’s something you can learn whether or not you have cancer. All you need is to look around and open your eyes and your heart. I have been surrounded by the most overwhelming love and compassion by my friends from all over the world. I have been touched in ways you cannot imagine… me, Buddy! I am humbled and a bit inspired. You know, a lot of dogs and people live their whole life and are never touched by this kind of support and kindness. At first I know my Mom was tempted to ask why this came up at this time of year… Then it became clear to both of us. What a true Christmas present. What a truly meaningful present for any season and any purpose you hold high. Into every life some bad things fall, and every life will eventually end. Not every life will be so richly blessed with friends and kindness as ours has been. We have received the greatest gift this year. We are grateful and we wish this gift for all of you! Merry season to all, and many Buddy days in the new year ::

Christmas Presence II

Hey folks, Buddy here! Some of you might remember a few months ago, my furbulous FURiend Caju the Warrior dog sent me a new toy “just cuz” and it got to me just in time for me to take with me to the hospital for some surgerizing. He didn’t know it would arrive just in time, but it did and I took that bunny dabbit (yes, that IS the correct pronunciation, look it up!) with me to the surgery and carry it around with me more than any other toy. I love that toy, which is saying a lot because I have a LOT of toys.

Sometimes it gets stuffed down towards the bottom of my toy box and I have to go a digging for it. Mom doesn’t seem too pleased about that, but what’s a dog to do? When ya gotta have it, ya gotta have it! Comfort is comfort.

Last summer I told you about a new furiend I made in the neighborhood at the upside down pool, his name is Sysco and if you don’t remember him here’s that post: http://sitnstayglobal.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/keeping-it-fun/ He’s just the coolest dude and we have become good friends indeed. I found out Sysco was going to have his 16th barkday recently and I was just ecstatic! What a huge milestone!! We just had to celebrate. Mom took me out shopping and I was pretty confused because those stores are BIG! The gift had to be just perfectly special for this special friend.

What could be special enough for my special friend? Every time I see him he has a true sparkle in his eye and he hops over to me and leans against me. Sysco doesn’t really walk much any more, but he is a great hopper and when he leans on you he almost purrs, his joy is so tangible. I wanted to give him something that gave him that joy when I wasn’t around… What could it be???? Then I saw it! I saw the very toy my dear friend Caju had given me. THAT’S IT! I knew how much comfort it had given me and how much I loved mine. Mom said ok, and we carefully took our precious find to the desk in the front where I got a cookie and she gave them some plastic and off we went. I don’t know exactly when the exchange took place, but I got this great picture today:

My heart just warmed when I learned that Sysco had named his new friend “Buddy” and leans on him just like he leans on me. He gets it!!!!! I am so thrilled! That has so filled me with joy this Christmas season, that I guess I want to leave you with this thought… Nobody needs all of the toys I have in that big basket above. They need someone to be present enough to notice what we really need. Usually it is just someone warm and caring, and maybe a cuddle or two. Maybe it is something warm to cuddle when your humans have to work or do busy stuff. Sysco is lucky, he has the most “present” Mom in the world. I wish for all of my furiends that kind of presence this season! Thank you for your wisdom and friendship Sysco… Dog bless you every one ::