Mighty-Mommy Tackles the Beastie as Reported by Juneau

I heard mommy on the phone with daddy when she came home to let Cosi & me out at lunchtime. She told him that when she got to the back door to come in there was a huge web from the siding to the frame of the back door & down to our grill which is kept right outside the back door. A big thick hairy colorful spider was on the web & skidaddled into the siding near the door frame. Mommy went on to tell daddy that she picked up one of Joshua’s tools, a rubber mallet, & using it got rid of the web. After leaving us outside in the side run, she went to look for bug spray. Of course when she needed it, it wasn’t under the sink! So mommy went & got her hairspray & went outside to tackle the ‘hairy beastie!’ She sprayed the hairspray in the crack of the siding & the spider came out like it was drunk. She used more hairspray on the thingee & then hit it with the rubber mallet. That unwelcomed spider never had a chance!!! I would’ve protected mommy from the spider thingee. I like to chase & eat bugs. They don’t have much of a taste though. She probably wouldn’t have let me at it cuz she always worries when I put sumthing other than food, my toys, or Cosi (when I wrestle & play wif him) in my mouth. Nope, her next job won’t be a buggy killer cuz she usually screams for daddy or Josh to kill them.

Mommy's Got the Blues

I heard the saying from humes, “When it rains, it pours.” I guess they are not always talking about the wet stuff that comes down outside.

Mommy has been having a real tough few weeks. She hasn’t felt like blogging even though she truly enjoys it & taking lots of pictures of us. Two weeks ago her boss told her that she will have to go on part-time in just a few short weeks. Project money is running out. She has been with her boss for 6 years. No one saw this coming wif her position as assistant to her boss. Her boss started out with the sentence “I have been meaning to tell you . . .” - LIKE YEAH, A FEW MONTHS AGO WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER SO SHE COULD FIND A JOB WAY BEFORE HER SURGERY DATE!! This coming up along with her being scared about her surgery, her blood pressure went sky high. Her doctor put her on some meds for her pressure. Last Thursday, Juneau and I wondered why mommy & daddy were late coming home from work & was late for our dinner time. Well, we found out later that mommy had a reaction from the medicine & couldn’t drive home. Daddy took her to the hospital. I heard him tell our 2-legged brother, Josh, that she had a kitty-scan, chest x-ray, EK-sumthing, & lots of blood (Ouch!) for tests. The doctors wanted to rule out heart attack or stroke. Well, we were very glad that daddy brought mommy home that night, but she was very tired! It turned out that all the tests came back normal & the doctors decided that it had to be the new medicine. They told her to stop taking it.

To top it off daddy’s horse, Cutter, went very lame. After one of the vets trying to take x-rays of his front legs 2 days in a row that didn’t turn out, they met the ‘head’ vet at our nearby racetrack to do digital x-rays on the big guy. We were all so worried that Cutter wouldn’t be coming home wif them! He is 17 years old & he is in the early stages of having navicular. This is like arthritis in horses. Quarter Horses are more prone to get this. The vet put him on strong dose of bute (which is like horsey motrin) & he will be getting special shoes on his front legs (the farrier just called & Cutter now has his new shoes on which will help his recovery). After 10 days of stall rest, daddy should be able to start to ride him again. On the day that they took Cutter to see the vet, mommy saw her doctor to get her blood pressure evaluation. In spite of what has been going on, her pressure is back to normal.

She has calmed down a lot. She has Juneau & me to keep her occupied at home. Juneau is getting soooo big, he leaped up & landed in her lap in the chair. I jumped up on the side & we all gave each other squeezes. Mommy started to laugh & hug & kiss us. She has an interview for a new job lined up & another phone interview. She also has an appointment to see her surgeon on 9/20. His assistant told her that she would not be wired tightly shut & she will be able to talk (not eat though) & she will be able to go back to work in the time before the next surgery. She is a little nervous having to go through the job interview process again, especially so close to her surgery date. Every-puppy & friends, please keep your fingers crossed for her!

If Amber reads this, keep those jokes a-coming - they make her laugh!!

-Cosi-

Ohhh, the Poop of It All & Woo-Is-Me!

You know, it's fine that mommy & daddy wanted a puppy or should I say "poopie" to grow up & be my buddy. Right now I deal wif a being who thinks he is the total "alpha puppy!" He wants what I want -- my food, toys, uses me as his living chew toy whenever he wants -- & I can't even get a moment's peace. But, it is so much fun to torment him & get him back, he-woo-woo!! BUT, THE VERY WORST THING IS THAT HIS CRATE IS RIGHT NEXT TO MINE & he is a pooper & a peer. My poor sensitive nose! You gotcha, I am ranting!!!! When does his puppy-license expire, huh?!?! My foster-mommy (at the Stoutino Inn & Foster Kennel) would probably say what 'goes around comes around' cuz I did it to Shiloh & Guiness until I was crate trained & my tummy got under control. I should ask mommy & daddy if they can give me a clothes pin for my nose or sumthing. Mommy even comes home at lunchtime now to let us out to try to avoid the mess in the crate. I think Juneau holds it until she leaves to make a point & just to annoy me. GUESS WHAT, IT WORKS!! Juneau knows to go to the side door when we are playing around the house & he can hold it all night long in his crate - SO HOW ABOUT DURING THE DAY NEXT TO ME WOULD BE A BIG DEAL TO HIS BIG, BRUTHER COSI!!!

The Vet Appointment - Friday, August 10

Well, I did it - I made it thru our joint vet appointment wif Juneau! It was such a long wait. They told mommy & daddy that Friday nights are the worst for wait time cuz that's when there seems to be a lot of emergencies. I talked & woo'd alot wif other doggies & their humans while Juneau took a nap. He was a very good puppy despite the long wait. It was my turn first. A nice tech lady came into our room to take blood from my paw. Oh woo, that needle was big & long! I tried to tell them that I was OK & they did not have to stick me to get a blood sample from my leg, but did they believe me - Nooooo! Yes, I was a little wussy! I must say, it was over before I knew what was going on. They wrapped my leg up wif tape afterwards as a bandaid. They said that it was my yearly heartworm test. I gained 2 pounds since April (in spite of being a rather picky Husky eater) & now I weigh 48 lbs. The vet said that I should weigh no more than 50 - 52, so I am doing good. I got my yearly combination shot, too. Then, it was Juneau's turn. He gained 3 pounds since his last visit 3 weeks ago. So now he weighs 18.sumthing. He got his next round of puppy shots & his rabies shot, too. Our vet said that we were both very healthy boys. She tried to give me some treats, but they were rather nasty wif no taste. That was OK cuz Juneau ate my share. He's a piggy. Juneau won't have to go back until he gets neutered sumtime around November. Daddy wants to know why they say they "fix" the dog - isn't it more like "broken," he-woo-woo?!?!

A Hot, Humid Summer Day

It was just too hot for this big Sibe and for all humans & critters in 'De Burgh!!!' Even I didn't want to stay out & sunbathe. Much rather be in the house where it is cool. Maybe if it rained, it would cool things off, but on the other paw, it could become even hotter with more humidity, woo-yuck!! Daddy had men come to the house yesterday to blow this stuff into the attic & walls of our house to help to make it cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.

At first, I gave mommy a hard time over eating my dinner tonight. But, I figured that if I did make all gone, I would get something yummy for dessert. Juneau would get something, too, even though he always makes all gone his food. He's a little piggy. Even tries to get mine!

Mommy gave each of us a cherry frozen fruit pop. It was so woo-fully delish & ohh-so-cold!!!!

The Bionic Jaw & Countdown

Just two months from yesterday mommy will be going in for the 1st of her 2 jaw surgeries. She is weally, weally, scared! 21 years ago when my 2-legged brother, Joshua, was 6 months old, she had to have jaw reconstructive surgery & a replacement part for her TMJ on her left side. When she was pregnant with Josh her jaw had slipped out & she had lock-jaw. 13 years ago she had to have surgery to remove the replacement part cuz it broke (& with her great luck, it was also recalled by the AMA!!). When she got a full replacement joint put in then, she was told that it would last 15+ years. But, alas, the TMJ replacement joint has started to fail & broke again after 13 years. Daddy says that they could pinpoint when it happened - somewheres around December ’06, the night that they had to say good-bye to their Sibe, Shanna Maidel. Mommy was extremely upset, almost like she was in shock, & her jaw started to major pop & dislocate. To top it off, her doctor left the state of Pennsylvania 7 years earlier so she didn’t have a doctor. Since she works at the University of Pittsburgh, she contacted their Dental School’s Dental Clinic. They gave her an appointment to meet the top guy, the Dean & Director of the Dental School & clinic. He even got the stupid medical insurance company to approve her surgeries without a fight. Insurance companies don't like to approve or pay for TMJ anything. She had a second opinion with Big Ben’s doctor, the one who put his face back together after his stupid motorcycle accident. He spoke highly of mommy’s new doctor. Her 1st surgery will be to take the bad part out. That doesn’t scare her. What does is that there is a chance that she may be wired shut until the 2nd surgery. She has never, never been wired shut before. They have to take the broken metal part out so that they can do a kitty-scan to make a model of her jaw. Then, this company in Califurnia will build her joint. That can take anywheres from 4-7 weeks+! The 2nd surgery will be to put the new joint in. She said that then she will be OK cuz she knows how to rehab through that part & she will be on the road to recovery. She’ll be a skinny mommy cuz she’ll be drinking lots & lots of milkshakes & stuff put into a blender.

IF ANY OF YOU HAVE SOME GOOD MILK SHAKE RECIPES OR EASY, HEARTY SOUPS, PLEASE LET MOMMY KNOW ABOUT THEM!

Also, mommy will be having lots of support from Juneau & me & the family, but maybe you can help us to keep her spirits up. We’d appreciate it. Lots of good jokes, too.

‘Til next time,

-Cosi-

Sleeping on the Bed

Hi-Woo Every-Puppy & 2-Legged Friends,

Oh-woos, I didn’t know that answering in “My Favorite Places to Sleep” would have so many comments!!! True, I don’t sleep on the bed at night. And, yep-roo, mommy doesn’t like doggy fur on her bed. But, Juneau & I do get to snuggle & play wif mommy & daddy on it & get hugs & scratches. Sumtimes, I get to take a nap wif them. Juneau sleeps in a crate in the bedroom. (During the day he has the crate next to me in the breakfast room.) He can’t have run of the room cuz he’ll chew up everything. There is a phone in the bedroom, too! (He chewed the living room phone up, too, after knocking down the gate in the kitchen the other day - naughty Juneau has a phone-fetish!! That makes #2.) When they leave the bedroom door open, I do rather like to go downstairs to the breakfast room & sleep in my crate. It’s where I have my quiet time (when Juneau leaves me alone from me being his living chew toy!). Also, the bathroom’s tile floor is cooler to sleep on than the rug.
‘Til next time,

-Cosi-

A Special Thanx to MaPaw & My Foster Family at the The Stoutino Inn & Foster Kennel

Woo-woo, time sure flies! It has been a year since MaPaw found me and took me in. Mommy found the MaPaw blog where they introduced me, http://mapaw.blogspot.com/2006/09/heeeeerres-cosmos.html all the ways back in September 2006. With a lot of tender, loving care I have come a long way from that dirty, scared and lonely boy. Mommy also found the MaPaw blog, http://mapaw.blogspot.com/2007/02/love-story.html where daddy, Erin, and she came to meet me. You can’t see mommy in the picture cuz I was hugging her. She said that she was glad the other peoples didn’t want me cuz “I wasn’t red enuf!” Cuz then they wouldn’t have met me. She said that she fell in wuv with my picture and blurb on the MaPaw adoption site. And, when my family came to meet me at my foster-family’s house, there was no question - I WAS COMING HOME THAT DAY WIF THEM! They wuv me just they way I am. She calls me her bewootiful boy! She said that she didn’t care if I was purple and white (actually her favorite color combination is purple and pink!), she wuvs me cuz I’m gentle with her, gives great hugs and woos, and good company for her, too. An added plus showing off how great my disposition is that I am very tolerant of Juneau and other doggies!

Things You Wanted to Know About Me

My friends Echo & Holly have tagged me to answer these questions:

1. What is your favorite place to sleep?

I like to take naps in my crate. At bedtime I would prefer to sleep on the bed, but, alas, mommy doesn’t want any dog fur on the bed. So I sleep in their bathroom on the tile floor where it is cool.


2. Is there a specific trick your humans make you do to get treats?

All I really hafta do is look cute & give them the big eyes. When I finish all of my dinner, I get dessert – either a slice of cheese, my liver treats, or a pupsicle.


3. If you could spend an entire day doing anything at all with anyone, what would you do and with whom?

I’d hang out with my mommy, take a nap, let her play chase with me in the back yard (& Juneau, too-but it is more fun to chase him, he-he-woo-woo!!!).


4. What is your favorite toy?

My squeaky red puppy.

5. If you could change one thing in your life, what would it be?

I’d help to find a furever home for all of those homeless doggies out there.

Juneau - Phone Home

Mommy did her usual routine with us this morning (daddy couldn’t help cuz he is still going to physical therapy early in the mornings to get strength back in the arm where he had surgery) – woke up around 6:30am when she heard Juneau whining, took us out to our side run, put Juneau back in the crate in the bedroom for 40 more minutes of laying down, timer went off and took Juneau down to give him breakfast, let us out again to pee and poop, & then blocked us in the kitchen to play with our toys while she went upstairs to shower and dress for work. When she leaves us blocked in the kitchen with puppy gates, she always walks around to make sure that the room is puppy-proof. But she forgot something – Juneau has grown much since he came to live wif us & he jumps higher. Was she surprised when she came downstairs! Look what she found. Can you guess what Juneau was doing by the pictures?

Yep-roo, Juneau had jumped up and got the phone cord of our wall phone off the high counter where mommy keeps it. He used the part of the phone that mommy and daddy hold and talk through for a chew toy.

Maybe he wanted to phone his brothers and sisters to tell them that he likes his new home wif us and that we are taking great care of him!

And maybe not - Juneau is in tr-roo-ble again!!!!

Banana Pupsicle

Mommy gave me a really different treat for finishing all of my dinner. She said it was a banana pupsicle. It was sooo yummy and cold!!! It tasted better than an ice cube. I left the stick thingee when I finished all of my pupsicle. Mommy said that it was the last one.



So, I gave her the 'big eyes' look and she said that she would buy more for my desserts. I can't wait!

Taking Puppy to the Vet

Mommy & daddy came home late from taking Juneau to his puppy vet appointment. Our vet hospital is also an emergency pet hospital. Juneau had a 7:30 appointment, but he didn't get seen to almost 9:00pm. That wasn't what made mommy upset. She said that when she had Shanna & had an emergency with her, she was on the other side of the waiting watch so she knew what it was like & didn't mind waiting while more important cases were seen. 2 people came running in that their dogs were out loose & chased another dog & got hit by a car. The grown dog was brought in dead. The younger dog/pup was brought in through the back & had go right into surgery. The people did not stick around to see the outcome. Mommy was upset that people let the dogs out to run around without supervision so that there would be an opportunity for a disaster to happen. Also, know one knows if they were actually the owners or the ones who hit the dogs with their truck since they didn't stick around while the puppy was being worked on. Another family came in with their dog to say 'good-bye' to it. Mommy was upset because she said that she knew what they were going through. It brought back to many memories. Well, at least the night ended up on a good note for us. Juneau gained 4 lbs. - no wonder mommy has a hard time lifting him! He got his next round of puppy shots. Next time, she told me, I will be going with Juneau cuz I need my yearly shots. I don't want to share his time, can I put it off - oh, no - no shots!!!!

P.S. (Tuesday, 7/24) Mommy called our vet to find out if the puppy that was taken into surgery had survived. He did & he went home with his owners yesterday. His owners left when they brought the dogs in from the accident, because as they told our vet, they were having financial difficulties which they later resolved. Oh well, as mommy says, the world is made up of all kinds of people-some with more common sense than others. I know that if Juneau or I were very badly hurt, mommy or daddy would not leave right away until they knew we would be on the road to recovery.

IN-YUR-FACE

Hello All Puppies,
I, Juneau, asked my mommy if I can speak for all Puppy-dom. We have rights, too, as being the new rising generation! To all of our larger brothers & sisters - QUIT BULLYING US!! One day, take note, we might be bigger than you & we will remember back when. So stand up & give a “Yip-woo-woo” for our puppy rights.

I do like my humans & my big brother, Cosmos. He lays down & lets me jump around on him & nip & bite at him. And, sometimes, we take naps together. But, other times, he forgets that I am a little guy & gets too rough. Then I run to my mommy & she calms the rough play down. Mommys & daddys are good help in standing up for puppy rights - Grrrrrrr-woo-woo.

One-on-One Football

Cosmos and Juneau decided that it was beautiful weather this evening to play some football.

The Toilet Paper Caper

Juneau did it!! When mommy & daddy brought us upstairs to the bedroom to go night-night, Juneau went into their bathroom & found the toilet paper & ran with it into their bedroom. Boy, did he make a mess! Mommy & daddy were laughing so hard I thought they were crying. As mommy was bending over to clean up the mess he made, I heard her call him a "little stinker." Gee, I need to try the toilet paper out. If Juneau likes it so much, maybe I can use it, too!