Sunday, February 22, 2009
Old dog and his young friends,
Zazou often sleeps with part of his tongue sticking out, that gives him a real funny look, for the last few months I have had to give him Valium because of anxiety issues. I actually made an appointment to have him put to sleep because his anxiety was so bad that I felt his quality of life was not adequate any more. My vet checked his heart and heard a very pronounced murmur, so we decided to try him on some Lasix to see if that would help his heart. I have really seen an improvement in his attitude since he is on the Lasix, I was able to decrease his Valium from one tablet every afternoon to 1/2 tablet, and the last two days I have tried without and he did well. So it looks like he has a heart problem and that may have contributed to the anxiety. We also tried him on a different medication for anxiety, Clomicalm, but after the first dose he got picky about food and after the second dose he stopped eating, lack of appetite is one of the major side effects of this type of drug, and it was really interesting to see how quickly he went form loving to eat to not wanting to eat at all. After 12 hours he started eating again and since I didn't give him another dose he was back to normal the next day. He is really amazing to me as he doesn't have much mobility anymore and has a very hard time getting up and getting around, but nothing seems to deter him from doing what he wants to do, he makes his rounds on both sides of the property, loves to go for rides, comes to the front when he hears my car and he never misses a meal, he is the only one of my dogs who will remind me that it's time for dinner if I am too slow and he will do his version of a happy dance when I pick up his bowl to feed him.
Sammie on the go
Leydi chasing Prince,
Leydi and her son Prince
there goes Prince with a toy
Sammie, Prince and their momma Leydi
another group shot of the trio
who gets the toy?
Prince and Leydi
Sammie playing with her favorite brother
Another standoff, who get's the toy this time?
Prince has the toy and Sammie and Leydi want to take it from him
Leydi trying to get the toy
Sammie chasing Prince with the toy
Prince
Sammie loves to run
Leydi and Prince having a drink together
Little Moqui goat, she was very sick recently, we think it was Listeriosis, an infection of the brain, she went downhill so fast that day when she got sick that I did not think she would make it through the night. After a few days on antibiotics she started to get better and now she acts like nothing ever happened.
I am building these new structures to provide shade and to provide some shelter from the rain and wind, I tried to use the corrugated plastic on the sides, but apparently my decorator/landscape helpers did a little re-shaping. So I think I will stick to the wooden panels to make sides.
two structures are up, they are not completed yet, but they are already functional
Cici and Teddy playing
the dogs love this hill and behind Teddy and Nanuk is the cave they have dug deep down into the hill, the first time I went up to the hill here one of the dogs went down into the cave, and completely disappeared.
Nanuk is testing the new shelter, he has been sitting inside too sometimes
Prince 
Prince and Leydi
Prince out for a walk in the desert near our house
Prince and Leydi - tails up
Prince loves this dog house, here he has both front paws resting on the side board, when we had the rainstorms recently he was in that dog house all day and all night, he only came out when it stopped raining in between or to eat, he refused to come into our house, he preferred the dog house.
Leydi and Prince hanging out together in the shade of a pine tree
Enya and Nanuk out for a walk
getting to the top of the sand dunes
Enya, she is such a stout girl, she is not fat by any means, her ribs are easily felt, she is just a very heavy built
these two were having a great time on our walk
this was actually the second picture, so the one below was supposed to be first, when Enya saw me she came running towards me
Ayla and Enya were both sitting on the hill, when they saw me Enya came to investigate
Cici still likes to curl up on top of the crate in my office
Zazou often sleeps with part of his tongue sticking out, that gives him a real funny look, for the last few months I have had to give him Valium because of anxiety issues. I actually made an appointment to have him put to sleep because his anxiety was so bad that I felt his quality of life was not adequate any more. My vet checked his heart and heard a very pronounced murmur, so we decided to try him on some Lasix to see if that would help his heart. I have really seen an improvement in his attitude since he is on the Lasix, I was able to decrease his Valium from one tablet every afternoon to 1/2 tablet, and the last two days I have tried without and he did well. So it looks like he has a heart problem and that may have contributed to the anxiety. We also tried him on a different medication for anxiety, Clomicalm, but after the first dose he got picky about food and after the second dose he stopped eating, lack of appetite is one of the major side effects of this type of drug, and it was really interesting to see how quickly he went form loving to eat to not wanting to eat at all. After 12 hours he started eating again and since I didn't give him another dose he was back to normal the next day. He is really amazing to me as he doesn't have much mobility anymore and has a very hard time getting up and getting around, but nothing seems to deter him from doing what he wants to do, he makes his rounds on both sides of the property, loves to go for rides, comes to the front when he hears my car and he never misses a meal, he is the only one of my dogs who will remind me that it's time for dinner if I am too slow and he will do his version of a happy dance when I pick up his bowl to feed him.
Cici sleeping in the crate, she loves to rest belly up,
Sammie on the go
Leydi chasing Prince,
Leydi and her son Prince
there goes Prince with a toy
Sammie, Prince and their momma Leydi
another group shot of the trio
who gets the toy?
Prince and Leydi
Sammie playing with her favorite brotherAnother standoff, who get's the toy this time?
Prince has the toy and Sammie and Leydi want to take it from him
Leydi trying to get the toy
Sammie chasing Prince with the toy
Prince
Sammie loves to run
Leydi and Prince having a drink together
Little Moqui goat, she was very sick recently, we think it was Listeriosis, an infection of the brain, she went downhill so fast that day when she got sick that I did not think she would make it through the night. After a few days on antibiotics she started to get better and now she acts like nothing ever happened.
I am building these new structures to provide shade and to provide some shelter from the rain and wind, I tried to use the corrugated plastic on the sides, but apparently my decorator/landscape helpers did a little re-shaping. So I think I will stick to the wooden panels to make sides.
two structures are up, they are not completed yet, but they are already functional
Cici and Teddy playing
the dogs love this hill and behind Teddy and Nanuk is the cave they have dug deep down into the hill, the first time I went up to the hill here one of the dogs went down into the cave, and completely disappeared.
Nanuk is testing the new shelter, he has been sitting inside too sometimes
Prince
Prince and Leydi
Prince out for a walk in the desert near our house
Prince and Leydi - tails up
Prince loves this dog house, here he has both front paws resting on the side board, when we had the rainstorms recently he was in that dog house all day and all night, he only came out when it stopped raining in between or to eat, he refused to come into our house, he preferred the dog house.
Leydi and Prince hanging out together in the shade of a pine tree
Enya and Nanuk out for a walk
getting to the top of the sand dunes
Enya, she is such a stout girl, she is not fat by any means, her ribs are easily felt, she is just a very heavy built
these two were having a great time on our walk
this was actually the second picture, so the one below was supposed to be first, when Enya saw me she came running towards me
Ayla and Enya were both sitting on the hill, when they saw me Enya came to investigate
Cici still likes to curl up on top of the crate in my office
Sunday, February 08, 2009
After the rain,
We had quite a bit of rain this weekend, which means lots of snow in the mountains.
Samantha, I call her the ballerina because she has a very dancy and light step when she is happy
Samantha and Prince checking out all the puddles
The yard was a muddy mess after a heavy downpour, the dogs enjoyed it all as a whole new adventure, they were racing through the water and mud acting plain old silly
standing around in muddy water, what more can a dog that lives in the desert wish for?
some of my chickens like to hide their eggs, one of them, Bella, is the only one that lays an off white egg, whenever I don't get eggs from her I know she has found a new place to hide them
Tippi and Tobi, Tippi isn't done with her molting yet, while Tobi is already in full new plumage, she looks so pretty again now with the new feathers.
Another shot of Tippi and Tobi
Teddy after running and rolling around in the mud
Nanuk is playing with Enya, he is almost 8 years old, Enya is 14 months and just about his size now.
I have no idea why Nanuk was standing up like that here, and I never noticed it until I saw the picture
still playing
Enya grabbing Nanuk by the face
I love Nanuk's expression on this picture
Enya and Teddy, they were actually working on digging a hole there next to where I am building some new dog houses
Enya, my big girl
Enya
Cici doing a bow, she loves to do that, it's somewhat a default behavior for her, if all else fails, try a bow. Ayla sits pretty when she wants something, Cici does a bow.
We had quite a bit of rain this weekend, which means lots of snow in the mountains.
Samantha, I call her the ballerina because she has a very dancy and light step when she is happy
Samantha and Prince checking out all the puddles
The yard was a muddy mess after a heavy downpour, the dogs enjoyed it all as a whole new adventure, they were racing through the water and mud acting plain old silly
standing around in muddy water, what more can a dog that lives in the desert wish for?
some of my chickens like to hide their eggs, one of them, Bella, is the only one that lays an off white egg, whenever I don't get eggs from her I know she has found a new place to hide them
Tippi and Tobi, Tippi isn't done with her molting yet, while Tobi is already in full new plumage, she looks so pretty again now with the new feathers.
Another shot of Tippi and Tobi
Teddy after running and rolling around in the mud
Nanuk is playing with Enya, he is almost 8 years old, Enya is 14 months and just about his size now.
I have no idea why Nanuk was standing up like that here, and I never noticed it until I saw the picture
still playing
Enya grabbing Nanuk by the face
I love Nanuk's expression on this picture
Enya and Teddy, they were actually working on digging a hole there next to where I am building some new dog houses
Enya, my big girl
Enya
Cici doing a bow, she loves to do that, it's somewhat a default behavior for her, if all else fails, try a bow. Ayla sits pretty when she wants something, Cici does a bow. I am really proud of myself as at this point all 5 of the puppies will do a bow on cue, my terrier and also Ayla will do a bow on cue, now if I could get them all together and do it at the same time.......
Cici, the wonder dog, she amazes me every day with the things she does, she is a fascinating little girl, she has actually pretty much stopped countersurfing and stealing things other than dog food, maybe one day it will be safe again to leave edible items on my desk without some dog snatching it up and eating it.
This was a really big hawk sitting in the tree next to our property. I made sure to leave a dog with the chickens before I left for work, this hawk is big enough to steal a chicken, I don't want him to take any of mine
Leydi and her two daughters, Cici is actually in the chicken yard and Leydi and Enya are with the goats, we have a neighbor with a new young Weimaraner and I am bit worried that this young dog will try to get over the fence to get to my critters as he isn't deterred by my dogs barking at him, he thinks it's funny and runs around like it is a game and my dogs really aren't amused by it. So we are all keeping a close eye on him.
Enya loves the goats, Maya who is the oldest one of my goats (not shown) loves to chase Enya around, her hackles will be up, mouth open she walks towards Enya with her head wiggling about, Enya runs from her, play bows, jumps away, it's really funny to watch. Maya doesn't do this with any of the other dogs, seems to be a mutual thing between these two.
Leydi sitting in the soft straw
Cici, the wonder dog, she amazes me every day with the things she does, she is a fascinating little girl, she has actually pretty much stopped countersurfing and stealing things other than dog food, maybe one day it will be safe again to leave edible items on my desk without some dog snatching it up and eating it.
This was a really big hawk sitting in the tree next to our property. I made sure to leave a dog with the chickens before I left for work, this hawk is big enough to steal a chicken, I don't want him to take any of mine
Leydi and her two daughters, Cici is actually in the chicken yard and Leydi and Enya are with the goats, we have a neighbor with a new young Weimaraner and I am bit worried that this young dog will try to get over the fence to get to my critters as he isn't deterred by my dogs barking at him, he thinks it's funny and runs around like it is a game and my dogs really aren't amused by it. So we are all keeping a close eye on him.
Enya loves the goats, Maya who is the oldest one of my goats (not shown) loves to chase Enya around, her hackles will be up, mouth open she walks towards Enya with her head wiggling about, Enya runs from her, play bows, jumps away, it's really funny to watch. Maya doesn't do this with any of the other dogs, seems to be a mutual thing between these two.
Leydi sitting in the soft straw 