Restless Days and Nights

Here is the picture I promised you many posts ago. Behind me is the fence that the mean dog broke through to attack me. It was so scary for me. Right now it is almost midnight and I just had to come in the house because he started barking again. I am just so nervous now, I don't think I will ever feel comfortable here. That mean dog behind the fence really did a number on me. At least I know this house is not permanent. As soon as K is done house-animal sitting, we can leave and find our own house and our own yard, with no mean dogs living behind fences! But she needs to find a job first so we can afford to move. I hope we can go live in the country again. I don't much like neighborhood living. But if we have to stay in a neighborhood, I hope we can find a place with a big private backyard and the houses not so close together. I also hope we find a place near a fun dog park. The best dog park was in the Northern state I came from. I had so much fun going there every night when K got home from work. But the dog park here is always empty and is really small. I miss running and playing with doggies. Silvius would play with me until he had is severe accident. I miss Silvius. But for now, I am stuck here living in a house that is not mine with a mean dog behind the fence. Maybe if I howl sweet nothings into the night he will come around and learn to like me. I'm just sayin'...

I don't stink!

I slept inside the house last night. The mean dog behind the fence was out barking very late and I was so nervous that I decided to go in the kitchen and sleep. I don't know why he was out so late barking and growling near the fence, but I did not like it one bit! Tonight it is nice and quiet, though, so I will be outside under the moon and stars. Hopefully the mean dog behind the fence will stay quiet all night. I wonder if he will be outside more as the weather gets warmer. I know summer is coming because I have been shedding a lot lately. I am leaving huge clumps of fur all over the house and yard. They even fall out during my walks. K brushed me today and she filled up an entire plastic bag of my fur from only getting my two hind legs brushed. She still has the rest of my body to go! I do feel better, though, to get that hanging fur off of me. We had four days of hot hot heat the other week. It was 100 degrees (plus or minus a few degrees) for four days. I did pretty good, though. I slept a lot in the kitchen on the cold stone tile floor during the day but at night I was able to stay outside since it cooled down. But obviously summer is coming so my fur is adjusting. The other evening during our walk we saw six doggies running around off-leash on a little hill, so I went to join them (on leash of course, or I would take off running!). They were nice dogs. One of the humans said I should get shaved for the summer. K disagrees. My Vet told K that my double coat helps keep me insulated and cool during the summer (well, as cool as any animal can be during 100 degree heat) and also, my fur protects me from the sun's rays and from insect bites. So now it bothers me when I see shaved dog because I wonder if their skin is burning from the sun, or if they have lots and lots of insect bites. I don't think dogs are meant to be shaved. I think Nature is pretty smart and would not create an animal that would need a human to come along and shave it for the summer. I am shedding right now which is helping me to prepare for the summer heat. K's relative came to visit this past week-end and said I smelled like a stinky dog and needed a bath. Hey! I do smell like a dog, because I am a dog, but I don't think I stink! K thinks it is just because I have so much fur falling off and also, at least four times now, I have jumped into the little pond we walk by every morning. And the pond water kind-of smells. I have been going in up to my neck and it feels so nice and cool. The ducks get mad at me for going into their pond and some yell at me. But I only stay in for a minute or two. So I guess if the water is smelly and I am in it then maybe I am getting to be a stinky dog. Well, if being stinky is the price I have to pay for a cool down in a smelly pond, then I guess my name is stinky Suka! I'm just sayin'...

Sick As A Dog

These past few days have been scary for me. I got really sick and my human was very worried about me. It started the afternoon of Mother's Day. I miss my mom!! Anyway, I started getting very lethargic and I would not eat. But I was eating grass and making myself vomit. My human decided not to take me on my evening walk, which was a good thing because I was not feeling very well. On Monday I felt worse. We tried to go on our morning walk but I was moving really slow, so my human had us turn around only about 1/4 of the way into our walk. Again, I kept eating grass and vomiting. On Monday afternoon my human saw a blue thing sitting by the fence. Curious, she went over to check it out and found one-half of a blue rubber ball that was in my vomit. I must have swallowed a blue rubber ball at some point, I don't really remember when because I eat so much, and it came out through my vomit. Well, that made my human happy to see because to her it explained why I had been feeling so icky. But things only got worse for me. Monday night I vomited three more times, and by early Tuesday morning I was just pacing because it hurt to lie down. I still had not eaten and then I threw up again Tuesday morning. My human was really worried and did not know what was wrong with me. She called a friend who is in veterinary school and asked for advice. Her friend said since I was at least drinking water I should be ok for one more day, but then I should probably go to the vet if I did not get any better. But she said to observe me during the day and if I looked like I was getting worse then I needed to go to the vet immediately. She said it sounded like I still had an obstruction in me. So my human watched over me and I finally fell asleep and slept most of the day. When I woke up around 6 p.m. I wandered into the back yard where my human was cleaning the pool. I was able to eat some food, just a little. Then I went to poop and guess what? The other half of that blue rubber ball came out! My human was so happy! It meant no x-rays or surgery for me! Today I feel so much better. I have eaten some food and did my full morning walk. My human had never seen that blue rubber ball so she does not know where I found it or when I swallowed it. She just needs to watch me more closely when we walk because I am always picking up things that I find. Since moving here I have found, during my walks, a golf ball, two rubber balls, a golf club, a ballet shoe, a pair of flip-flops, two nerf footballs, one soccer ball, a dragon kite, and a one dollar bill. I don't know why you humans leave these things all over the place. I pass a lot of trash cans on my walk so if these are things you don't want why not just throw them away? Except for the money. My human seemed to be pleased with me finding a dollar bill! Anyway, I did not eat any of those things but I guess the blue rubber ball looked fun so I must have started to play with it and just swallowed it. Or I might have thought it was a big blue piece of food. I don't' know what I was thinking. When I was first adopted by my human I swallowed a red rubber Kong toy that I stole from Porgy. Porgy always had so much fun playing with it that I wanted to try it out. Well, it went right down my throat. One day when my human was cleaning Porgy's cage she noticed it was missing and looked all over for it but never found it. She had no idea I had gulped it down. It stayed in me for two whole months. Then one evening I was feeling really sick and when I vomited, out came the red rubber Kong toy! Two months! Yuck! My human was shocked. She had no idea I had swallowed it. So you would think I would have learned my lesson to stay away from small rubber toys after having a red rubber Kong in my tummy for two months. Oh well, I guess I just like the taste of rubber toys. Or the tickling feeling I get when the rubber toys are bouncing around in my stomach when I run! I'm just sayin'...

Ginger Snap

These past few days have been like the dog days of Summer, but it isn't even Summer yet! Lazy days and dreamy nights. The heat never came. It has been nice and cool and breezy all week. Today on my evening walk I met three happy puppies playing together in the grass. They were older puppies, maybe 6 - 8 months old because they were almost full grown, and really friendly! I only stayed a few minutes though, I had more walking to do. Yesterday a human male walked past me and said I was a "good looking dog." And then a few days ago a female human stopped to pet me and said I was "king of the walking path" since I looked so "majestic." I won't let all these compliments get to my head though, I just like that some people stop to pet me! And I also like when doggies stop to meet and play. The mean dog behind the fence has been acting up again these past few nights so I have been hanging out on the back patio since he makes me nervous. He must like the cool night breezes too since he has been outside more. Ginger, my 17-year-old new friend that lives here, has been doing pretty good since she got on arthritis and thyroid medicine. She has recently started to take evening walks with my human. Ginger is funny. When we get back from our evening walk Ginger is waiting by the gate and when she hears us coming she starts to cry. When we get inside the gate she jumps a little and wags her tail as she crys because she knows it is her turn to walk. I don't think they go very far though, Ginger and my human, because they are back rather quickly, not the hour long walk I take. But Ginger seems really happy to have her walks now that she can walk better. A picture of Ginger is above this post. I wonder if I will live to be 17. I am around 5 years old now, so I am still a pup! A good looking, majestic, king of the walking trail pup! I'm just sayin'...

Porgy and Bulls

I told you Porgy always wants to be near me! Here we are on the deck at our home in the Midwest, before moving to California for the house-sitting gig. I guess Porgy and I standing by the palm tree was foreshadowing things to come! We lived in the country, so that is a little red shed behind the deck, and the creek is further behind that. Silvius still lives there. Silvius likes swimming in the creek when it is hot. He also swims across the creek to chase the deer. I don't really chase deer, but I did bark at the bulls a lot and they sometimes did not like that. Silvius would pick a bull and then run around him while barking. That made the bull mad! The bull would huff and put his head down and paw at the ground with his front hoof. Scary! That still did not stop Silvius, though, it just made him stop running in front of the bull but he would still bark and run behind the bull. My human would have to stop me and Silvius from antagonizing the bulls. She did not want to be trampled by any annoyed bulls. Sometimes I feel that way with Porgy - annoyed. He would follow me all day if he could. Sometimes when I am trying to fall asleep he will stand near my head and watch me. I don't like being watched when I am trying to sleep so I growl but he still just stands there. Then I growl again and get up and move, but Porgy will just follow me. So my human will finally have to get Porgy and put him back on his cage. Sometimes Porgy will be content to be back on his house, other times he will climb right back down to find me. I don't blame Porgy though. Parrots are monogamous creatures and since he does not have another parrot to bond with he has bonded with me. Before I came along he was very close to my human's previous dog. And before that dog, Porgy was close to my human. I guess parrots are fickle, because he keeps changing his bonding partners! I love Porgy, though. He may annoy me at times, but mostly I enjoy his company. We had fun traveling to California together and I like when he hangs outside with me near the pool. But there is another side to Porgy - when he gets mad he is scary! And if any one tried to get me, Porgy would attack them. So if that mean dog behind the fence breaks through and attacks me again I will just have to sic Porgy on him. That will teach him not to mess with a Malamute...who has a parrot friend. I'm just sayin'...

Picture Time!

My human does not have a digital camera, she is an analog human, so we have to rely on friends and families who do have digital cameras to take photos of me that can be put on my blog. So, here is my first photo! I am standing at the front end of the pool and if you look behind my hind legs, you will see my water bowl. Just behind that is my spot, which is usually where I spend my days hanging out and sleeping. Later this week I will have a photo of me by the other end of the pool, and you will be able to see the fence where the mean dog broke through and attacked me. I am actually looking at the spot he broke through in this photo. I still get anxious thinking about that! But at least I am starting to sleep outside more, which has been nice since it has been so cool and breezy. Yesterday two nice ladies stopped my human during our morning walk and told her that summers here get very hot and they wondered if I would be ok. So when we got home my human cleaned out part of the garage so that when it gets really hot I will have room to go in the garage and lay down on the cool cement floor. I guess Ginger has always used the garage in the summers to keep her cool, and she is so skinny! Now that my human has made room for me in the garage both Ginger and I can go in and stay cool during the summer heat. I think the heat is starting this week. So far it has been nice for me but I heard that this week it is going to be in the 80s, and that is really hot for me. Yesterday a few neighbors were swimming in their pools. I could hear kids screaming and splashing. But my human was too busy cleaning out the garage for me so she did not jump in the pool. I like it when she is in the pool because then she is outside with me. Dogs are pack animals so we like when others are around us, either other dogs in our pack or our humans that make up our pack. Today Porgy was outside with me. My human put Porgy's cage on the table that you see behind me in the photo, and he stayed outside all day. It was nice to have the company. Porgy likes it too. Porgy loves me. He always wants to be near me. I don't blame him. Can you? I'm just sayin'...

Grrrr

Grrrr...This makes me angry. I just heard that a beautiful horse named Eight Belles was euthanized immediately after coming in second place at the Kentucky Derby today because she broke both of her front ankles and there was nothing the veterinarians could do to save her. The tragedy of this breaks my heart. Why are you humans still racing horses? Do you know how many horses are permanently maimed and/or euthanized because of horse racing? And for what purpose, just to make money? I don't understand. Do you know what happens to these amazing horses when they can no longer race, due to injury or old age or just not being fast enough? Pretty much the same thing that is done to Greyhound dogs when they can no longer race - they are sent away to die awful deaths, except for the few lucky ones saved by rescue organizations. Grrrr...I just found out that some very kind-hearted humans are trying to protect the North Atlantic right whales from being injured or killed in collisions by ships. These good humans are requesting that the ships slow down as the pass through the whale's feeding and calving grounds so the ship's propellers don't harm the whales. But some bad mean humans are blocking this protection because it will take money away from them. Money again! Why is money so important? How can money be more valuable than sharing this Earth with the magnificent right whales? Grrrr...This hits closer to my heart since these are my kin. Word has come to me that the Northern Rockies gray wolf has been delisted from the Endangered Species protection list which means they can now be hunted by humans. Already, 20 of my beautiful relatives have been slaughtered. Why? I just don't understand. Do some of you humans just hate wolves? And whales? And horses? I don't like hearing of animals being mistreated and it does not matter to me if they have fur, feathers, fins, or scales - I don't discriminate. OK, I know Nature can seem cruel and vicious. It is a tough world out there! I know there are some animals that will eat other animals, but that is usually out of necessity. We animals can also form unlikely friendships, like Mzee, the 130-year-old tortoise, who became best friends with a young orphaned hippo named Owen. We animals can usually see past our differences when we aren't looking for our next meal. Or breaking through fences to attack an innocent sweet malamute mix. I'm just sayin'...

Happy May Day!

It's May Day! No flower basket or running around a May pole for me. As for the other aspect of May Day, labour rights, I suppose since I am in the Working Class of dogs, if dogs did celebrate May Day I would qualify. But I don't work and that bothers me sometimes. I have a lot of energy and no place to take it. I would love to be running in the snow and pulling a sled with all of my buddies, but I am stuck here in California lounging around all day by a pool I don't want to use. Sure I get two walks a day, which are great fun! I see lots of different humans and many dogs, but most of those humans won't let me near their dogs. I don't understand it. Dogs are pack animals and we just want to meet and greet each other. But when people see me and my human coming, they pull their dog close to them and don't let us meet. Very odd behaviour. Most of us dogs get mad at that and jump and growl and bark, because we want our humans to let us meet the other dog, but the humans just keep pulling us and walking away. So, I have only gotten to meet a few furry friends on my walks. But I love my walks nonetheless. The humans with no dogs are always admiring me. I get lots of compliments, of people telling my human how pretty I am and what a beautiful dog I am, and other kind words. I love hearing all the compliments! A few little humans, kids you call them, have come up to pet me. I just love being petted and touched. And I love playing. One of the other states I used to live in had a great dog park that my human would take me to every day, rain or shine or snow! I would play for at least an hour, but usually more. There were always so many dogs there and I had so much fun. But then we moved and lived in the country for a bit where all I had were bulls, cows, horses, and goats to look at, but no one to play with and no dog park. Now I am in California and the nearest dog park is always empty. Sometimes we see a few little dogs running around, but most of the time when we walk by it the park is empty. It makes me sad because I want to play yet I have no one to play with. Ginger is 17-years-old so she can't play. I bet she was fun when she was younger, though. She is a Greyhound, so we could have run together and had fun. So, I just lay in my corner of the yard and watch the birds and at night, the stars, and go to sleep wishing I was in my own yard with my friend Sylvius, running and playing and having fun with no mean dog on the other side of the fence to make me nervous. So my human better get a job soon so we can get our own place, or I am just going to have to go to work myself, perhaps pulling kids on their skateboards, or pulling bunnies out of their burrows. I'm just sayin'...