Merry Christmas!

Fun had by all, now time to rest!

Stand by Me

If trouble is afoot, Esmeralda has proven time and again to be the instigator.  She doesn't try to be naughty, but she's way too smart for her own good...and almost always one step (or five) ahead of Bear.

Case in point:  the pups were in the yard playing.  E opened the door to let them in and Ezzie appeared almost immediately.  No Bear.  E called for him, and heard barking, but still no Bear.  Then E's attention was drawn to the top floor of the castle.  Ezzie has climbed to the top many, many times, but Bear generally prefers to be on solid ground.  Until now.  He was finally enticed by that little vixen to scale the three floors it takes to reach the top.  And there he stayed.  Stuck.  Paralyzed by fear.  We had to send in the rescue squad. 

The mission was a success.  Bear hasn't been up to the top since.  :-)

The poison incident is officially over!!  Ezzie and Bear's clotting levels were checked today and both came out normal.  They don't seem to be too traumatized by the blood draw.

Matching pink and blue bandages  

Next month is going to be much more difficult.  Ezzie's scheduled to be spayed mid January.  My poor girl!  She now weighs 42.2 pounds.  Bear is over 36 pounds!!  He carries it all in his gut.  We're going to have to work on that issue!

Happiest right next to her boy  

Catch me if you can!

Ezzie and Bear had another beautiful day out at the dog park.  They met an interesting little fellow that could outrun pretty much anyone.

Catch me if you can!

You didn't say anything about backup!!

Bambi in black and white

Happy Girl

How YOU doing?

Don't hate me 'cause I'm beautiful

Unconditional love.

Snow what??

It's the middle of December and we still don't have snow!  It's been wonderful.  Today we went to the dog park and it was busy with lots of sun.  It's been a great winter so far.

We've been playing around with new treats, experimenting, trying to figure out the pups' favorites.  This little deal kept Bear entertained for quite some time.  It's swivels, and makes it just a bit harder for him to sink his teeth in.  

M loves it when Ezzie is excited to greet her!  Sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming, but always appreciated.  She's become an expert at deflecting "hugs" that are a bit too aggressive.  Especially the ones that are preceded by a run and jump!

M knows that after they get over the formalities of reuniting after a hard day at school, she'll have her snuggle buddy all night long.

Well, almost all night!  Ezzie has to give equal attention to Bear, of course.  In this photo, the two had been wrestling for a few minutes and we happened to catch a shot of Bear's most vicious pose.  It's a hoot, 'cause Bear isn't vicious at all.  He just makes these faces, but he never bites, or even hints that he might.  He's fierce, like the honeybadger.

Ezzie likes to tease Bear by taking all the good toys and playing keep away.

Tweety just watches the action.  :)

Kitty, chillaxing on a laptop

M, playing with Bear.

Puppy Graduation!

Ezzie and Bear officially graduated from puppy dynamics earlier this week!

Sitting pretty at puppy school.







Our puppy school instructor, Marsha - she was great!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ezzie and Bear are doing great! It's been over a week now and no ill effects from the poisoning incident. We are so grateful!

The Thanksgiving Holiday was a success. Even the pups got to go to Grandma's house. They behaved themselves...for the most part.

Grandma J makes the best Thanksgiving meal ever! Just ask the grandkids!




After family fun was over, the pups did some herding at the dog park to burn off a little steam.






It worked - they were clearly suffering from Thanksgiving hangover by the end of the day.



All the holiday action made Ezzie a sleepy girl.




I just adore this picture. It was nice to have W home for the weekend! M loves her big bro.




Isn't this the truth!



Snuggle bugs.



The everlasting treat ball has resurfaced...but we only have one!



Bear is the temporary winner.

Double trouble

A few years ago we found one of these little critters in our basement:





Cute, but totally uninvited. We were pretty sure it came in through the garage. It was fall, and we had been less than diligent about making sure the door that separates the house and garage was completely closed. Sometimes the pressure from closing the front door pops the garage door open. We gave the little rodent an eviction notice.





Fast forward three years. E Was out in the garage last night doing what a man does in the garage. Rearranging, or some other less than useful activity no doubt. The pups, being the little Velcro babies they are, love to be out there with him. They've got a decent set-up. E lays out a nice blanket for them and usually has a bully stick to keep them busy. They also have the freedom to run out the back door and wrestle in the yard.

On this particular evening, E noticed the pups were notably interested in a morsel of some unidentified object. Ezzie is usually the ringleader of all that is forbidden, so E pried her jaws open first and found a crumbled piece of this:




It was broken up, and had clearly been chomped on. It was every puppy parents' worst nightmare. Poison ingestion.

We learned from vet Cassie and also the Red River Animal Emergency Clinic that it wasn't going to be the end of the world, especially since we caught it early. This news was reassuring, but really doesn't make us any less scared.

We immediately gave both the pups hydrogen peroxide soaked in bread with a little ham to induce vomiting. Bear gave up his dinner almost immediately. No green stuff in his regurgitated supper. Ezzie, now known as iron belly, would not throw up. Off to the ER we went. The tech and vet at the weekend pet ER were wonderful. They only charged us one exam fee, an act of kindness that was greatly appreciated.

Because Bear had puked up a massive amount of food, and seriously, I would never have thought his belly could hold so much, he was in the clear with respect to further vomiting. Ezzie had to have a shot to make her sick. Bear was so worried about her. When the tech led Ezzie away, Bear was beside himself. He cried, and watched the door where Ezzie had been taken away.





Ezzie finally got sick and the vet found chunks of poison in the contents ejected out of her tummy. Is was a greenish blue color. Confirmed poison ingestion. My poor baby!
She was given yet another shot, this time to calm her tummy down. She was then reunited with Bear.




Bear checked her out to make sure she was ok. Then he snuggled up next to her and laid his head on her body.




They were both very tired by the end of the ordeal. The doctor sent them home with anti poison meds and instructions for follow up care. We were assured that they are going to be just fine. I will relax when I am positive the poison is out of their systems. We are all really worried about them. I can't believe they managed to find the one piece of mouse poison left in the garage. We were so careful about getting any dangerous chemicals out of their reach They've spent countless hours out in the garage with E. I'm just so glad we realized what had happened before symptoms appeared. All information indicates that it's too late to do much once that happens. Now we just watch. And wait.

Updates to follow.

Just cute

M and L love playing with Bear!





Ezzie loves playing catch.




Too cute.

Pick me!

The pups, waiting for a treat.




M found some puppies at the dog park. Ten of them!

Fate and family reunion

We traveled to the cities this weekend for W's surgery. Things went well and he's recovering. Lots of fun adventures! We saw turkeys in the business district.



Found a super cool dog park.



With it's own pond.






Lots of room to run!



And a good bully stick from Chuck and Don's to end the day.



Meanwhile, back at home, M was back at home hitting the pumpkin patch with her school.







And a birthday party for her BFF E!




Today we met cousin B and Uncle G for lunch at a neat little Italian deli, Cossettas...and another trip to the super cool dog park because B loves puppy parties!



Ezzie decided it would be fun to jump in the pond. Naughty dog!



We weren't supposed to go to this dog park today. We had another one all picked out. But it fell through because we don't have an annual permit. As fate would have it, it was meant to be. Ezzie was reunited with her sister, Eddie. It was the craziest thing, but it was also so obvious. We noticed there was another beautiful tri Aussie at the park. She looked just like Ezzie. I asked her owner the age of his dog. He said it's his son's, and she's 6-7 months old. From a vet, and originally named after a beer. What are the odds?

Ezzie and Eddie.







Ezzie's sister, Eddie. Isn't she beautiful!



Bear never gets jeoulous of Ezzie playing with other dogs, but he seemed less than impressed with the connection between Ezzie and Eddie. Poor Honeybear!

They are back together again, snuggling as I type. Just the two of them. ;)