Thursday, October 18, 2007

dairyDog, Memorials

Thank you everyone for the kind thoughts and continued well-wishes.

We're getting along.
We'll be adding some "good ole" photos soon.

Betsy's folks sent flowers to us all-

Our Postal person Gretchen dropped off the note and Scooby snack next to the place were dD died. Marked by some Hardy Mums, cause she was a Hardy Dog-


Thnaks again to all that have sent things.
As we trudge on...

Saturday, October 13, 2007

dairyDog, 1994?-2007




dairyDog passed away 7:45am, at home, out front in the lawn, on the grass, beneath a blanket and under a beautiful new-day blue sky, with both Betsy and I by her side.
It had been a very long night for us all.

We're going to head up my folks house in Oakland, MD to bury her after we gather ourselves and such.


Rest In Peace dear friend.
Run Free Forever.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Hackles Raised

Our BFF before yesterday's 5 hour vet appointment.

Today I had two people infer that we should just do the right thing and not let Dairy suffer. It took all I had not to shout out WE ARE VEGETARIANS! Having an animal suffer on our behalf goes against one of our strongest principles. Dairy might not be long for this life, but she is NOT suffering, yet. She still smiles and greets us and wags her tail for most anything. She enjoys long naps in the sun, sniffing other dog butts, riding in the car, and letting small puppies and children know that they should respect their elders. We might not speak the same language, but we communicate just fine, and when we see in her eyes that she has had enough of the good fight, we will do the right thing. (And I don't mean call the Pet Mafia, Rob.) Watching Dairy suffer would hurt much more than adjusting to a life without our beloved furry friend.

Monday, October 08, 2007

Grocer's

We have just returned from the grocer's where we purchased chicken niblets, chicken noodle soup, and (cringe) hotdogs. And dear Grandma Shogren is going to drop off some (cooked) hamburger and rice on her way to the airport tomorrow morning. Cross your fingers that at least one of the above items appeals to Dairy's tastebuds!

More Dairy


Little Dairy might be feeling lousy, but that doesn't stop her from being a super sweetie-pie!
Here she is with Uncle Chris.



And a picture of her avoiding her tofu and rice.

Special thanks go out to The Casdorph Family (of super sponsor Casdorph Piano fame), for dropping off some leftover chicken nuggets for dD. Dairy liked them so much, she ate them twice (if you get my drift).

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Please send us your leftovers

Guess what I just did. I stewed me up a big old pot of chicken and rice. Yes, sirree. That would be the first time since this house has come under Shogren ownership (10 years) that meat has been cooked under this roof. I just hope this concoction is as tasty as Grandma Shogren's was. I think that is the first time I have ever cooked chicken. Grandma Shogren is out of town for two weeks, so she can't be cooking up some viddles for the pooch. Fortunately, we will see Grandma Schauer next weekend and she has already promised to boil up a chicken for her granddog.
Please note: we did stew her up a big old pot of tofu and rice last night, but that dog is not stupid and was not fooled.
I am reminded of my vegetarian friend from grad school whose dog had allergies, and she would roast a whole turkey plus all the trimmings every Sunday for her dog. I used to snicker at that girl ("vegetarian, hah!"), but I guess I shouldn't have laughed until I walked a mile in her shoes...

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Mount Abemore

If you haven't been to Mount Rushmore in the last 1.5 years, you may be surprised to find out that there has been an addition.

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Don't try this at home.

So a couple of the kids were checking out some of my adventures and particularly liked the style of this-
Down the Steps

So they got together, grabbed the laundry basket, and all old-fashioned like put themselves into it-


Asked me to give them a little help, "something for the effort"-


And, oops, things went a little awry. The laundry basket wasn't quite long enough and the front edge went quickly down, hucking the guys down the steps.
Totally unretouched photo, actually as I found them, no lie-


They're ok.
Don't worry.

Progress Report


Well, Dairy's been home a week now, and while she is much improved, she is still not eating a whole lot. She is oh-so-picky and finicky.
However, we took her to the race on Sunday, and I think the fresh air stimulated her appetite a bit. She ate a little container of chicken and rice soup (specially prepared by Grandma Shogren just for dD), and a bunch of dog cookies from Uncle Chris. She had to fight the boys for the cookies, though, as hungry bike racers will eat about anything. She even stuck her nose in the trash bag to dig out a cupcake wrapper. Unfortunately, I think we fed her one too many cookies, b/c shortly thereafter, she barfed everything up. I will spare you the photo, but rest assured, we have one. I was just thankful she barfed before we hit the road.
So now that we are back home, she shows signs of being hungry. Here's a nice picture of her begging for a pizza crust. I certainly shared my pizza with her, but not before stuffing it with her 6 different pills! Please note, in this photo she may look like we never feed her, but right next to her she had three different types of dog food, scrambed eggs, and a burrito that she refused to eat.


In any case, we're just happy she's home, breathing well, and showing sparks of her old food-obsessed self. Hopefully the next post will bring more good news!

* addendum by gunnar.
Here's the pills she takes twice a day!
Hangin' out on the counter are Mr. Prickles, the stolen one-eyed Hedgehog from Laurel Legal Service, Piggy, and a pretty cool pen-