Dream Speech Wordle

I"ve been using Wordle.net a lot and I had an Idea to run Dr. King's 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech through it.

Its Been A While

I will admit it was hard for me to write in the blog after Bear-Handbanana died. In fact, My last post was on or around his birthday, in March. Life must go on. The great thing is Junior hasn't done much.

He did, however, get a new roommate. Scooter moved in 6 weeks or so ago. Maurice and I are to provide him shelter and his Benefactor provides everything else.  It has been quite interesting to watch Junior and Scooter interact. As we all know, Scooter is used to running things and taking his place as Maurice's second in command, with Maurice being the "Alpha Dog".  However, Junior is a solid forty five pounds heavier than Scooter. It often seems as though you can see the gears turning in that terrier mind of his, wondering how his action will be met by his man sized counterpart. Delightfully enough, Maurice and I generally let them resolve their own issues and either the biggest (Junior), the fastest (Scooter), or whomever is craziest that particular day wins.

Rob & Big

Dr. Garcia thinks Junior inherited a form of the mange from Ruby. She doesn't have it, but she is a carrier and all her puppies have the potential to get it. Also, his outdoor allergies are kicking his butt. They make blisters form between his toes. They burst sometimes and bleed all over the floor. Its gross but lucky for us, it happened in the waiting are at the Vet. It seems that Susan O. Long, Jr. is truly his father's son.  Quite a few ailments this one has. He has some substantial hair loss on the back of his ears and some patches where his elbow would be, if he were a person. This dog was very expensive this month. 

Morning Meds Including Vitamins 

Evening Meds

Because I get his prescriptions filled at Kroger, the bottle labels are the same, as if he were human. Some of them are expected and quite uncommon. 

Doxepin. Not sure what its for, but its $20 a bottle

Nothing unusual about this label. has his name and the directions and the medicine. No big deal. On the same bottle, you get a gem like this. 

Crazy Right?!?

So before I gave it to him, I made sure he understood that he could no longer be the social drinker he once was. He was disappointed when I recommended to him that he couldn't drive himself to the dog park any more and that he should put that job at the Vodka warehouse on hold since driving a forklift may not be a good idea right now.  He was sad at first, but luckily he's a dog. His fleeting attention span got the best of him when Scooter trotted into the room with the beat up rope toy in his mouth. 

I guess he will have to settle on being a mechanic's apprentice. Here he is helping Kevin fix the car window. Although he helps mainly by staying out of the way, maybe he will pick up a wrench or screwdriver. There is no guarantee that he will give it back to you IF he picks it up. He's cute, but not a very hard worker.

Now that I have a new phone that has a flash, taking picture for this blog wont be such a hassle. 

For sheer entertainment factor, watch this video. I do enjoy living in the south, you stumble across these from time to time.

And now, of course, the remix

Have a great day. 

*Unless striving for you day to be great is too stressful, or sets an impractical or unobtainable goal then, Just have a day, however it comes.

My Remarkable Dog

This past Thursday would have been Bear-Handbanana's 5th birthday. Although it has been very hard without him, I have to keep moving forward. Shortly after his death, a witness to the event told Maurice exactly what happened. He then relayed that information to me. 

A Remarkable Dog

I live 2 blocks away from Hwy 72, a 4 lane divided highway. Junior and Bear-Hanbanana were seen standing in the middle of it. While trying to cross the street, most cars stopped and allowed Bear-Handbanana to move out of the street, but the Huntsville Utilities truck did not. He was hit. Junior ran out into the street, grabbed Bear's body and started bringing him home. He ended up leaving him a block from the house.  Junior did all he knew to help. I am so proud of him. He truly is a remarkable dog.

As of late Junior's acne has returned. The vet told me that it would return anytime he is under a lot of stress. I genuinely feel bad because he probably picked up the stressful vibes I have been sending out over the past month or so. He also has allergies! I'm hoping they are simply outdoor allergies but I have changed his food, just in case. Before I began giving him Benedryl three times a day, He chewed the skin off the tip of his tail, leaving a scab almost the size of a dime. When it gets wet, of if he is off his meds for more than three days and he chews it, he leaves bloody streaks up and down the hallway, on doors and door frames and on you if you're not careful.  Earlier today his chin and tip of his tail were both bleeding. I don't know what the exact opposite of awesome is, but I was surely feeling it today. 

Nothing else is really new with Junior. We have started feeding him foods we find comical to watch him eat. While eating grapes, Maurice threw a few to Junior. Unsure if it was food or a toy, he treated it as both.  

Sorry the video is sideways. My phone sometimes reorients the screen direction. Quite bothersome, to say the least. I have given him an orange. He did the same thing. i peeled the orange with a knife and left most of the pith on.  I sliced off one end so he could get some juice out and he played with it like a delicious tennis ball.

Junior did ruin a set of seedlings earlier this week. I set all the seedlings out on the porch to get some sunlight and he dumped out the watermelon and DEMOLISHED the basil, strawberries and lettuce.  I managed to salvage the watermelon plants and they are doing well. They are in the rear on the right. Rear left is the cucumber, front left is the cantaloupe and front right is the squash. in the pots up top are tomatoes and more basil. They have yet to sprout. I can't wait to have fresh fruits and veggies this summer. This minimal investment and a lot of hard work are gonna be quite delicious.  

Bear-Handbanana

Hulsey  Long

March 8, 2007 -- February 10, 2012 

He cleans up nice, But This is how I will always remember him.

Miss You Banana.

The big finish to 2011

I'm sorry there has not bee a steady stream of updates to Junior's blog, not that there wasn't anything to talk about. As he turns 9 months old in a couple days, lets fill in the gap!

So Juniors weight has always been a serious issue. Labs are prone to overeating and obesity. I know he doesn't get all the exercise he needs, so I feed him strictly by what the dog food bag says he should have. But there were time where looked too thin. We tried changing to a "more nutritious" food. We tried supplementing his diet with table food, beans, rice, oatmeal, etc. It helped, but he eats too much. So we  came up with a great solution in late October.

FOOD COMA!!!

A few days later, Bear-Handbanana decided he wanted to lay claim to Junior's crate. I realize his breed is British and all, but he laid claim to a land that already had inhabitants. He went straight 1620 on Juniors crate and hung out in there for a few days. Sometimes, they still hang out in there together. I think sometimes they just want to be close to each other, or they are just cold.

JUNIOR HIT PUBERTY IN DECEMBER

I noticed that Junior had some sores on his chin. I figured it would go away. It did not. The sores began to fester and bleed all over the place. It was the grossest thing I had ever seen! He would walk up to you and place his chin on your lap. When he left there was a smear of blood and puss. So I took him to the vet.

It turns out he had ACNE. I had never in my life heard of Dog Acne, but it is a real condition. The crazy thing is, It Can Come Back!!! If he is ever in a prolonged stressful situation, he will break out again. This dog was two and a half times worse than Mackenzie Phillips. 

I had to buy Doggie Strydex pads for his face. They were like $12! A bottle of witch hazel is like 2 bucks. I was super mad. The pictures were taken after he had been getting treatment for about 2 weeks. It had gone away considerably. We had to wrestle this dog down to the ground and wipe his chin twice a day.

Before his face could heal, Junior seriously hurt himself. It happened unbelievably fast. He walked from the living room into his bedroom. I called his name and he came to me limping. I had no idea what he had done to himself. The general consensus is that in his starvation/gluttony, he tried to eat the food from Bear-Handbanana's bowl... inside Bear-Handbanana's  tiny crate. He hurt himself trying to get out. I thought he could just walk it off, but it was substantially worse. When I took him to the vet, there was some random chick in a doctor's jacket. She was a terrible doctor. First off, she didn't listen to anything Maurice and I had to say about the situation. Secondly she did this:

 

THIS BROAD PUT MY PUPPY IN A MUZZLE!!!!!! I was PISSED to say the least. I could not believe it. I have mentioned before that Junior nipped at someone once and they marked in his chart that he is some demon spawn. I would nip at that woman too if she kept trying to put a stick inside my anus and wiggle it around.

I'm still mad. I think she did it because he looks like a pit bull. Stupid Lady.

Anyways after about a month and $50 worth of medication, all was well in the State of Denmark. 

At his check up, Dr. Garcia noticed that Junior had some bald patches on his backside. He prescribed some antibiotics that I had to pick up from Kroger.  Of course I asked the vet about picking up medicine for a dog from a regular pharmacy and he assured me that everything would be ok. Needless to say, when I went to the pharmacy, the technician looked at me like I just stepped off the moon. The pharmacist understood what the deal was, though. The prescription was free so I rapidly grew less concerned. 

The antibiotics were just in case Junior inherited the mange from Ruby. As it turns out, the dogs just had fleas. It took a few weeks, but we have it under control. Bear-Handbanana has a patch of flea bites on his back. he likes to get them brushed.

I started using Bio Shot on New Years day and it worked like gangbusters. I never did spray the yard, but I did the inside of the house and the dogs. Only thing is, you can't just put it on their back. You have to put dots of it all over their body, including feet and tail, then wait 12 hours and brush them twice a day for a week or so. The brushing helps distribute the medicine. It only lasts 3 weeks, though. 

Some time around the new year, Junior decided he loved the squeaky toy. He loves to lay down and and just squeak it out. He loves it. Its maddening. 

Bear is cone free and the hair is growing back in on his face. I'm so excited. My little fur monster is starting to look normal again. 

I am officially out of photos and videos from the past 4 months (oct-jan). 

Enjoy

They Took His Manhood... He Was Just A Boy

Yes, It happened. At the tender age of four months Junior was neutered. His big day was September 22, 2011, a Thursday. These pictures were taken on the day before. Wednesday is his weekly dog park day and his last frolic with his dingleberries.

The dog park venture last week was rather unremarkable. It seemed like Junior was aware of his fate and not eager to get on the way he usually does. Also, none of his friends were there, not even Tucker. There was a rain cloud... just one. It was directly above my head. Being that it was just a drizzle and I was the epitome of lazy, I just sat there and got rained on. It passed soon enough.

LETS GO!!

From time to time Junior doesn't want to get in the car. Its especially bad when Bear-Handbanana isn't there. Sometimes, if you can get him to put his paws up there, he will go ahead and jump in the car. Other times, like trips to the Vet, you have to pick him up like a sack of flour and throw him in the back seat. He rides fairly well for the most part. Although he vomits on long trips and it saddens me.

We get to the Vet and Junior had actually LOST weight. He lost 4 or 5 pounds. There is still a great debate about his weight. I have recently switched him to Blue Buffalo Dog Food. It is supposed to be more wholesome and have less filler. I'll be sure to post about it. But I digress. The veterinary technician went to take him to the back and he decided he did not want to go and would rather jump over the counter and make a getaway.

At this point, I drove the 9.9 miles back home and carried out my Thursday as usual. I did spend extra time with Bear-Handbanana. He really needed some time with out Junior (You'll see why later on in this post).

When I went to pick him up, The tech gave me the spiel about what he can and cannot do, when he can bathe, when to feed him, yadda, yadda, yadda. Well she brought him out and

happened. He was jumping all over the place. I am glad I didn't pay the extra money for the pain medicine. Honestly, I don't believe he was feeling any pain whatsoever. I didn't have a cone of shame for him, so I had to improvise.

He was not at all as enthused and the video made it seem. He didn't wear it for long. I would threaten him with it when I caught him rooting around in his downstairs. The shame was enough motivation to keep his snout out of there.

In those instructions I can't say I gave my undivided attention to and the handout I didn't read whatsoever there were elicit details about safe play time. I knew for a fact that I intentions of keeping him on a leash for the next ten days. That nonsense barely lasted the evening. Let fast forward three days to September 25th.

I know, you think I am a terrible pet parent. But in my own defense, I would probably do the same thing if they were children. I stopped him, but only after I had it recorded. Its funny to me.

As you may or may not know, Junior is my first large breed puppy. I had no idea they get staples instead of stitches. He had 3 furniture staples across his junk. Wanna See?

Yea that just happened.

Lets skip ahead to Saturday, October 1, 2011. After class, I snatched him up and took him to get those staples removed. Although the removal took 8 mins and was free, I still spent an hour in the store and spent $60. I loathe Petsmart. While I was there, I picked up some flea and tick shampoo. Turns out, that giant puppy had quite the infestation. That means Bear-Handbanana has them too. Lucky for me, they aren't allowed on the carpet. A quick vacuum and we were good to go, but, baths all around for the quadrupeds.

I am almost ashamed to say, this was his first bath since he moved here. That is a seriously strong puppy and I was a little nervous about it.

I know what you're thinking and yes Maurice is a terrible videographer, but he pays half the rent so what can I do about it.

First Day of School

Maurice and I took Bear-Handbanana and Junior to the dog park on Friday. Luckily Maurice didn't have to work because it took Junior 4 hours to get comfortable enough to play with anyone. The dog park is split into 2 play areas, a space for dogs under 25lbs and a larger space for dogs over 25lbs. Initially, we had both dogs in the small dog space because there weren't any other dogs on that side.

We wanted to give him an opportunity to get used to the smells and sounds of the dog park in general. Once we realized he was not going to give Bear-Handbanana a moments rest, it was time to move him to the big dog side. Maurice called the transition "College Freshman Syndrome". Junior went from being the big fish in a small pond to a small fish in a much bigger pond with fish bigger than he had ever seen.

Maurice stayed with Bear most of the afternoon, although Bear would have given his pointy ear to come over to the big dog side. At one point, he had begun to climb the fence. He was nearly 8 inches off the ground before we realized. [side note: This is most likely how Bear has been getting out of the yard. I know he knows how to climb a baby gate, but he only does it when it is blocking the bedroom door. I definitely have to get the underground fence. That way he cannot get to the end of the driveway.] I think I will let him come over and meet Sumo when we go back on Monday.

I'm not gonna lie, I almost gave up on Junior's ability to get in there and make nice with the other dogs. By the three hour mark I had grown weary of him standing behind my legs, too scared to pee. Had I not gotten carried away in conversation with the other dog parents we would have packed it up and left

long before 4 hours. Luckily he found Molly, a springer spaniel. Maurice actually

remembers when she was on the small dog side, playing with Bear and Scooter. She is the sweetest little girl and even though she had about 20lbs on Junior, she was uber gentle. I was so surprised he started playing I nearly forget to get the camera out.

Junior also made friends with Dixie, and 10 month old black lab/ English Mastiff mix. She is expected to grow to 150lbs.

Other dog related news:

1. You never learn people names at the dog park. You could run into a park regular at Target and chat for hours about nothing and still not realize where you know them from... until they mention they have a dog. In that moment, you remember the dog's name, breed and collar/ harness color.

2. Mr. Bennett is not a person. He is a bloodhound.

a. The call of the bloodhound is and awesome sound. It reminds me of beginning band at Carr Lane.

b. I watched a bloodhound poop. It was hilariously awesome.

3. Everybody Knows Sumo. He is very beefy and very lean. When he runs, every muscle is visible under his skin. Don't let his massive size and gold menacing eyes fool you. He is a pushover.

*Notice Bear in the background of both those pictures. He spent most of the afternoon pacing the fence.

4. Fifteen year old dogs that have Parkinson's and suffered a stroke 2 weeks ago sill like to hump pretty lady dogs. Shep is all skin and bones. His person said she has push back his "put down" date three times because he just keeps getting better. Shep it trying to outlive us all.

5. While at the park, I asked the other dog parents of a good place to take Junior swimming. Everyone that chimed in recommended I take him to the boat launch at Ditto Landing. Turns out, that's where they launch boats into the river. "Oh just get him a life jacket and let him go. He's a lab, He'll love it." Considering I swim like a rock, it would be bad news if he drifted out too far. I would have to give the "Junior, We Hardly Knew Ye" speech. So I am on the lookout for a pool or lake to take Junior to. preferably a pool. I am not big on marine life.

Butts Up and Goodnight!