My Life with Dogs

Shelby with the dirty ball

It is amazing how dogs can recognize words…like “Dog Park.” When I ask the dogs if they want to go to the dog park, Shelby and Bandit will jump into the car, no questions asked! Shelby particularly, knows exactly when we are getting near Lincoln Dog Park in Aurora, our home park.

Today, we were going to the new dog park at Krepps Park in Morgantown, WV.   It is a beautiful park – wooded with rocks.   Not like Illinois terrain!   The boys ,  as usual, upon hearing the words “Do you want to go to the Dog Park?” were in the rental van instantly.   As I neared the park, I noticed the cars parked on both sides of the road near the colliseum…oh yeah, WVU Men’s Basketball game!   Cars had filled the parking lot of Krepps Park, but I was able to find a spot on the street directly across from the fenced in dog area.

The boys were so excited to get out of the van and into the park!  I let them in, and unfortunately, a woman with her dogs were just leaving, so no one was there to play with.  Bandit started running, and Shelby looked at me, waiting for the frisbee.  I did not bring it with, because I wanted him to run and play – and besides, I kept hitting the trees with the frisbee last time we were here!   But, with no other dogs at the park, a bored Shelby finally brought me a stick to throw.   We had a few exchanges before Shelby found the deflated basketball.   What a treat!   Shelby grabbed this wonderful thing and ran around, shaking it and bringing the dirty thing to me to throw!   My jeans and boots were covered in mud, but Shelby was focused on the ball and wanted nothing to do with other sticks or Bandit or anything else.

Bandit, on the other hand, had a look of total joy in his eyes as he ran around the park, nearly bowling me over as he usually does as he runs towards me.   Bandit has so much more energy than he used to have.   Now that he is relatively stable with his epilepsy meds, he has started to run more, and even tries to herd other dogs who come to the dog park.   When Brian with his dog Custer arrived, Bandit went into herding action, barking and trying to get Custer to run.   Custer would have nothing to do with it, and Bandit ended up running into him!

We were there about 45 minutes, and my gloves and jeans were already filthy from Shelby’s dirty ball.   I wanted to make sure that we got out of there before the basketball game ended – that would be a traffic nightmare!   But, the boys were not tired yet, so I decided to take them for a run offleash on the trails of Krepps Park outside the dog fence.   Shelby was in his element!   He loves to run, and he also gets the joy in his eyes as he runs ahead, but when I call him back, he is ears down, full speed ahead!   Bandit was much slower, running ahead a little, then waiting for me to catch up.   Shelby runs ahead, and started exploring off trail.   When I whistle, he returns, and when he is far ahead and I yell “Shelby, come!”  he runs, no holds barred, as fast as he can – really a beautiful sight.

They enjoy the run so much!   When running, I feel they are truly at one with their primevil selves.   They run, they are free, they run for the sake of running!   I love that look of joy in their eyes!

Little Mia

Little Mia…my eight pound pomeranian.    I will put in more details when I put together an individual page on her, but for now, I want to talk about her recent surgery.   

On Saturday, January 10, Mia tangled with Zoe, my friend Lilia’s 110 pound black lab….and Mia lost.    I came home from a seminar to find Lilia – who had come over with the good intentions of letting all three pups out to play.    Mia was nowhere to be found.    She told me that Mia had started barking at Zoe, and it quickly escalated.   Lilia said she threw her body over Zoe and Mia ran into the house to her hiding place under the bed.    When I returned and Lilia told me what had happened, we did not know the extent of Mia’s injuries.    When I reached under the bed, Mia bit me – something she would just never do.   Lilia said Mia had bit her as well.    I put on gloves and was able to get Mia out – though she was biting the whole time.   After bringing her into the living room and holding her, there were no visible signs of injury.    But the look in her eye was telling – it was blank.    I put her down and noticed that she lifted her left rear leg up, and though I moved it, she did not indicate she was in any pain.  Lilia and I did not know what to do, so we decided to take her to the emergency vet. 

After a trip to the VCA Animal Hospital, xrays revealed that Mia’s hip had come out of its socket.     The doctor said that they would anethesize her and manipulate the hip back into its socket – but there would be no guarantee that it would stay.   Surgery would be the only option.

After I picked her up Sunday, it was pretty obvious that after a short while, she was raising her leg and favoring it.    I took Mia to the new animal hospital in Yorkville on Monday, and scheduled her for surgery on Wednesday.

The surgery was called FHO – femoral head ostectemy, which is the same surgery they do for dogs with hip displaysia.   It involved actually cutting off the head of the femor and sewing up the muscle creating a false joint.  Yuck!  So I picked her up on Thursday after the surgery and her little leg was all shaved and had a 3″ incision with stitches!   But Mia was back to her old self – perky and cute!   Only problem – I was supposed to keep her still with limited movement for 28 days…..

It is now a little over a week after the surgery.   Mia seems to be healing, but keeping her quiet and still has been a challenge!   She has jumped onto and off of the couch a few times….I hope she is o.k.   She will get her stitches out next Friday.

Bandit relaxing in the bathroom in Morgantown, WV

The dogs and I made the trek out to Morgantown, WV. I have been traveling here for work basically all of 2008. I told my company that I was willing to travel….but I had to take my dogs! So, they rented me an apartment! It has really been a great experience, and having the dogs with me has made it even better!

This trip took a little longer than most…I got caught in a snowstorm in Indiana, and another one in PA, so 12 hours later we were there.

I had to keep Mia in a little crate which I strapped in the passenger’s seat so she wouldn’t move around after her operation….I haven’t told you about Mia’s operation yet…o.k. that will be tomorrow.

There is about 8 inches of light fluffy snow on the ground…the boys just love it! This a.m. there were deer tracks all around – right next to the apartment…of course, Bandit found some deer droppings…

I have been taking each dog out by themselves, as they each have different needs…I can only let Mia take a few steps so she is quick, Bandit has to walk and sniff and still won’t go until he finds just the right spot, and Shelby is quick to do his business…but he needs more of a walk to work off his energy.  

So, after coming home from work and taking care of Mia and Bandit, I took Shelby for an extended walk around the apartment complex.   We ran into Boyce and Guiness, so while Boyce and I discussed how much we loved the snow, Shelby and Guiness ran around, played, chased, and made their own little dog park!   Then, later, I took Shelby for round 2 at about 9:00.   As we made our way around the the complex and turned to walk on the gravel road next to the complex, Shelby stopped and pricked up his ears.   He could see or sense something ahead, so when I stopped and looked carefully, I saw what he saw…three deer had come up from the wooded valley.   They come for the birdseed and whatever else the apartment dwellers leave for them.   We stopped and watched them for a few seconds, before they silently headed back down the hill, only, I am sure, to come back up once we had passed.   Shelby did not make a sound, and once the deer had gone, he happily continued his walk.    Between the silence and the snow and now the deer, it sure made for a beautiful evening.

Carol, Bandit, Mia and Shelby

Hello! My name is Carol, and I decided that the time was right to keep a journal of my life with dogs. My life has really started to revolve around dogs….even more so now that I have 3! So, in upcoming posts, I will give you the story of each of my dogs, Shelby, Bandit and Mia, and I will describe the sometimes funny, sometimes silly and sometimes stinky(!) things that happen while living my life with dogs!