Sunday, August 28, 2011

Seriously?!?

Seriously?!? There are a few things I am kinda questioning these days...

1. Where did the summer go? I go back to work TOMORROW and I have very mixed feelings..... seriously, do I have to?!?

2. How did Spike manage to slice his paw pad open yesterday?!? Seriously, it looks like it hurts!!


He is clearly distressed now, haha, but let me tell you yesterday he was sure crying when it happened.


3.  Seriously Sophie?!? I believe she blew her good ACL yesterday. Honestly, my poor girl. She is a mess again; I knew she wasn't feeling well in the evening, as she was limping. I didn't pay any attention because she is often stiff when she first gets up. Then, I had to help her on the bed when we curled up to watch the latest episode of Weeds, online together. I didn't think much about that either as it's not that uncommon. But, she couldn't settle, and she started to cry. That IS unusual for my girlie. So, I began to massage around her hips/bad knee onto what I thought was her good knee. She wouldn't let me touch it. Oh Oh!  So, I got her up to see her walk. Sure enough, no weight on that paw. So, off we trundled to the kitchen for a deramaxx, then I helped her down the backstairs to go for one last trip out for the night. Once she got moving again, it seemed to be ok-ish but she sure isn't herself. My poor girlie is still not ok today and I think I'll be taking her off to the vet just to make sure it isn't a full tear. I am sure it's partial and this wasn't unexpected as most who have torn one side tend to do the same to the other side, but it still sucks. :(  Cross paws for Soph that she's not in too much pain!


She wont even get up to beg for food or steal off the counter. That's NOT a good sign. Sigh.




A final note.... crossing fingers and paws around here for our friends on the East Coast. Hoping everyone is ok through Hurricane Irene. Anyone hear from Mango and Dexter, for example??  I'm hoping they are ok and not flooding right now.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

The Rattie Girls

Warning Mom: DON'T READ THIS POST! :)

My mother reads my blog regularly, but has a decided distaste for the ratty critters that have moved in. I  guess I am free to go ahead and rescue some little ones that needed a great home, even if she isn't impressed. At least I gave her a warning before she decides to visit again.

Anyway, I added a third rat and I became increasingly aware of how unhappy they were in their cage. It was simply too small for active baby girl rats. They NEED to run and play. So, I set about to create a grotto for the girls; a cage made out of a bookcase. It was a total adventure and I will not confess how much I spent on supplies I may or may not have used, or how much my back hurt by the end, hehe.

Anyway, step one: Attach shelves with screws and staple wire on the back.



Make sure there are little hole for them to climb up and down between shelves.


Add doors and let the girls start to explore.


Smudge and Drucilla exploring their new home yesterday.


Smudge. She's a cute little dalmation rat. 


Dru, climbing up to see what can be seen. 


The final project.  I'm quite proud of it and the girls are happier than they've been in days. They have spent HOURS running, wrestling, playing, climbing. It's good!!  

How are the dogs? Banned from the office as they are just too interested still. Well, scratch that- Spike doesn't care. Sophie wants their food and Murphy, well Murph is dreaming of murder I am sure. But, they are learning impulse control and that's a good thing.

Ahhhh, rescuing critters is good for the soul, even if they are rats. :)



Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Updates!!

ARGH, where does time go???

Due to popular demand, the official update on Moose:  Moose is now Cooper and he will spend his life with Sara, his adopter. Yes, she is the girl that met him at the fundraiser. She has a roommate who has a young husky dog named Shout and when I took Moose over there, he took one look at me, then he was gone in a flurry of teeth, fur and wrestling with his new sis. They both were smitten. Sara was smitten and honestly, I tried to say goodbye to the boy, but he wouldn't; he was too intent on trotting around after his new Mama and playing with Shout. PERFECT PLACE for him! Exactly where Moose/Cooper should live.

Otherwise, my summer is winding down as I am back to work next week. I am dreading being away from my dogs all day- I've been home for 3 months after all with my sick leave then summer holidays. But, such is life and we'll all adjust.

The ratties are great. Yes, they are RATS. And, I love them!  I am making them a new cage; a giant grotto that likely will help me expand the family a little. I already added Dru, a black rat who is just a little doll. She fits with the other girls so well. Honestly, their temperaments are likely tiny dogs. They LOVE people, they love socialization and are highly trainable. I can't wait to clicker train some tricks! hehe

The dogs and I are great! I worked a weekend at Rebecca's and they were in heaven, running around, chasing, digging, enjoying the space. Then, they got a weekend at Bec's while I hung out at a Leadership Camp for young people. They had fun and I was inspired about the next generation. There are some super stars growing up in this province and it gives me hope!

In light of the fact that I ended last school in such a difficult position (sick leave, essentially due to stress) I have made some big decisions in the last while. The most recent one is to take a step back from the rescue. I love New Hope and the work they do, but I personally need a break. So, that is huge for me as I have been involved pretty much since I arrived here. I think the time away will be good; I will be able to re-find my passion for dog rescue, perhaps. And, at the end of the day my focus is on getting my thesis done, creating a better, more stable and normal routine for the dogs this fall and making sure that I stay healthy! I'll miss it, and I'll miss the variety of dogs who have come through my doors over time. But, a break and a rest is good sometimes.

That's all for this morning; I promise pictures and stories about the dogs soon. I definitely have some to tell!

Monday, August 8, 2011

Dog's Breakfast Fundraiser

I took Moose to a fundraiser event for New Hope Dog Rescue yesterday afternoon. It's a crazy afternoon as it's an ice cream eating contest and while I didn't actually watch the competition, I understand there were 5 guys, each eating some crazy amount of ice cream to see who could do so the fastest. I believe it entails like 14 scoops of ice cream, whipped cream and a cherry on top.

I was a bit busy while they were eating. You see, a gal had applied to meet a number of our puppies and had met Moose's brother James on Friday. She liked him, but his foster mama mentioned how much cuddlier Moose is than James, and she wanted to meet him.  So, while guys were making themselves sick on ice cream, Moose was worming his way into the heart of she who is likely going to be his new mama!  She wanted the night to think about which she wanted, but I suspect Moose will be packing his bags and moving out tomorrow. And, if not, that's ok too- I have come to love his cuddles on the couch and Murph has enjoyed having a playmate.  So, I'll keep you posted!

Anyway, some shots from the day of Moose, asking nicely for doggy biscuits....



He's perfected THE LOOK.  You know... THE LOOK that says "I'm here, I'm quiet and just sitting here, and I'm WAITING for that doggy biscuits!!"


Moose with one of our Special Girls, Robin.  We brought her and her sister Ducky in from a shelter in NorthWestern Saskatchewan. Once she arrived, we realized that she was in bad shape; she has severe hip dysplasia on both sides and immediately underwent bilateral hip surgeries. Moose loved her and she was content to lie on her bed, and get biscuits for being such a lovely girl!


All in all, it was a great afternoon and I'll keep you all posted on what happens with the Moose Man!


Wednesday, August 3, 2011

It's hot Ma!

Part of my self care plan has been to be outside as much as possible, soaking up sun. Good for what ails ya, I am sure! I had intentions of getting pictures of my flowers, the dogs and things we've been up to but I ran out of batteries and have yet to manage to remember to get any while I'm in the city. Today, I promise-today. Enough of the lousy iPhone photos!!

Anyway, yesterday wasn't too bad but the dogs were still warm. We celebrated with ice cubes. The only one who refused a cube was Sophie; I offered her two, she accepted both and spit them out. Silly girl!


Everyone else wanted one, even Spike, which suprised me.


Chomp! Chomp!

Moose, across the room, chomping away.  I tried to upload a cute one of Spike and Murphy, but it just won't let me, in a reasonable size. Blogger.... grrr!


And, finally a teaser.... stay tuned to find out who/what these little gafers are and why they are here. I'm sure I'll be getting a phonecall from my mother about going something like "you got what? WHY?!?"  Ah well, let's just say it was the better choice than another puppy and I NEEDED some baby fuzzies, post house deal falling apart, hehe.



Yup, they ARE cute!

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

WOAH! Where'd July go?!?

I'm back. I really, really am. After an unplanned blogging break, I've returned to snapping photos and telling silly stories about the dogs. They've missed you all, after all. And, I'm sorry I missed reading some of your blogs in the process.

So, where did July go? In a haze of lots of stuff, to be honest. I'll explain someday but July was mostly about self care- taking care of myself. And, getting out and running in an agility trial. And, nearly buying a 90 year old house. That took up quite a bit of July, to be honest.

I'll tell you that story at least.... I haven't been well, and ended up off work from May 25th, until summer holidays started. (that's the long story I'll share someday)  As part of my "thinking about life and getting my act together so I could feel better", I started to look around at houses. I have always, ALWAYS wanted to own my own place, but with student loan payments for another 8 months or so, and University now, I didn't think I could make it happen. So, what did I do? I went and looked at a house. I liked enough to go a second time. Then, I went to the bank to just see if I could get pre-approval for a mortgage. And, I did. So, I saw the house again and really liked it. So, I put in an offer and we negotiated in the span of a day.  Two days later, I got a life changing house inspection done on the house. Not really a surprise because of the price, the house hadn't been properly maintained and had several issues, including an OLD furnace from 1959, and heating duct work that hadn't been updated. So, that means the upstairs had no direct heat source, just a hope that passive heat (the concept that heat rises) would keep a person toasty warm on a windy, -40 night. But, the biggest issue was the problem of no eaves troughs on the house. Due to that and improper grading towards the house, the foundation on the one side of the house started to rot and needs to be replaced within the next year or so. In order to do that, the house would have to be jacked up off the foundation, a structural engineer would have to be involved and men would have to work in a crawl space comprised of wood and dirt to fix it. Beginning cost estimate of $20,000 for that repair alone. So, at that point, I said, thank you NO and walked away. Sadly, this means to that the house is basically not saleable at the price it's listed at. So, the current owners have a HUGE dilemma- stay in the house the way it is or basically bulldoze and start over as the repairs are not worth it on this particular house. They would never recover their cost and have already lost big on it. (They bought at a bad time when the housing market had gone crazy and paid WAY too much with no home inspection so they didn't know any of this. I gave them a copy of the report as I wasn't interested in causing them any more problems, I figured they've got enough stress at the moment).  So, the dogs and I are staying still at the moment.  And, I'm saving my pennies to have a better down payment for a better house requiring less work. (Which will likely be a 90 year old character home again, just with a structurally sound foundation I hope!).

Anyway, enough of that, just an update, Moose is STILL here. I can't figure out why as he's such a great puppy but he's had 1 application that didn't work out. :(  Poor Moosey; he's a lovely little dog who will make someone a GREAT dog!  Anyway, I will  update his petfinder stuff. But in the meantime, some pics of him mainly napping. :)  So cute!


The quality of these aren't great; I was using my iPhone which apparently does MUCH better outdoors than inside. Anyway, Moose "helping" me change the sheets on the bed last night. Or rather, keep the blankets from moving on me, hehe.




Where's Moose? Hiding in the blankey, hoping I don't disturb him again!



Moose and Murph during a play session break yesterday. Murph has been under the weather too (I'll tell that story on Friday, I hope, after she's been back the vet AGAIN) but yesterday she was pretty perky and wanted to wrestle with Moose. They are funny when she's not cranky!


Moose enjoying a "leave foster mama alone, she's trying to read and work on her thesis for the first time in WEEKS" bone. It worked until Spike swiped it. Poor Moose. Someone needs to save him from this nuthouse!