Dog Park Playdate

My friend from the local blogosphere, Vicky, brought her Welsh Corgis out for a playdate in the newly built dog park in South Walkerville's Optimist-Memorial Park. I must say I'm impressed with the size of the park and the inclusion of several park benches, picnic tables, and even one BBQ grill. Only complaint is that much of the fence-line on the south side of the dog park does not come close enough to the ground. Even my 60 lb golden retriever puppy would probably be able to scoot under there. Since the park is technically not complete, I'll give the city the benefit of the doubt and assume this will be corrected soon. In any case, it's a great place to bring your dogs to socialize with others. Any dogs that were there this afternoon seemed friendly and harmless. Pictured below, Bella laying on the ground with one of Vicki's corgis, and the two large (and very friendly) rhodesian ridgebacks that came along.

Bella's Best Friend is Dying?

Bella's best friend, our almost 9 year old border collie, Terky, is sick.

After losing our golden retriever Maggie to splenic hemangiosarcoma on January 6 of this year, the last thing we expected was to face the spectre of cancer again with one of our canine brood. But Friday morning I noticed a huge lump on Terky's neck and promptly brought her in to Brack's for examination.

The preliminary diagnosis was lymphoma. The vet aspirated some of her lymph nodes and sent the samples off to a special lab. They were hoping to get the results back by Saturday, but no such luck. All Brack's could report was that Terky's blood test showed liver enzymes were elevated. Everything else was normal. She's been on antibiotics in the event an infection is beneath all this.

So many things have been going through my mind this weekend. Did we do something wrong that is causing two dogs in a row to get cancer? If so, what? We don't spray our lawn, that's for sure. And we have the dirt patches, crabgrass, weeds, and creeping charlie to prove it. But who knows what effect our neighbour's use of herbicides has on our pets? There have been times I've hung our laundry out to dry and when it was done it smelled like Roundup. So who knows how far away those nasty chemicals can drift on a windy day. If it permeates our clean laundry on the line, what else is it invading? This alone is maddening. But there's no way to tell for sure. I am told sometimes cancer just... happens for no particular reason at all. Maybe just genetics.

Anyway... the call came back today and it turned out the cytology was inconclusive. So back to Brack's in the morning to do the test again and consult with the veterinarian. What lays around the corner for Terky is anyone's guess right now. We're just making sure to spoil her and that every one of her days is the best ever, just in-case this is real. And it sure looks real so far.

We know pet dogs are with us for such a short time but we're not quite ready to send Terky off to the bridge.

Hello Swimming Pool

Sorry for not updating the blog for the longest time. We're back. For now.

Today we introduced Bella to the swimming pool for the first time.

Her paws hit the water paddling and she grabbed the nearest ball. No big surprise there but it was still exciting to watch for the first time.

Puppy Socialization Class

So Tuesday night Bella started her class in Puppy Socialization. Or more specifically, we did. It's money and time well spent, considering what a positive impact it will have on Bella. We're going to Crossroads on East Pike Creek road, which is owned and operated by a knowledgeable and modern trainer, Jean Bruce. First impressions are favorable. Bella seems to be enjoying herself and benefiting from the experience, as are we.

Jean Bruce

Advice on handling


Discouraging Resource Guarding

Giving another puppy grief during playtime.


Jean Bruce demo'ing her Australian Shepherd Dog

Winter Returns

After the big thaw earlier this week, the backyard turned into a wet muddy wasteland. Each trip for the dogs meant more muddy paws. Thankfully we woke up this a.m. to a nice blanket of snow on the ground. Back to normal. This appeared to please Bella who loves frolicking in the snow and was also introduced to the frisbee today. Terky will need to run fast, because once Bella catches up and gets possession of a toy, there's no way she'll give it up to another dog! Kinda like Maggie was. Bella's motto is "What's mine is mine and what's yours is also mine!" That's my girl!

(This is what I call a quality "intercept"!)

Bella on BLIP.TV

Bella on BLIP.TV

Bella has her own blip.tv page now. For Bella's videos, just click this URL!

http://bellacam.blip.tv/

New Bed & Froggie

New Bed & Froggie
by John

So Maria called this afternoon saying she's at Petsmart and wants to come over... obviously with plans on scoring brownie points with Bella. So for today's entry, just a quick snapshot of the world's most spoiled golden retriever puppy with her goodies from Maria - a new jumbo bed (that's supposed to be Terky's) and "Froggie" plushy toy - the same toy that was Maggie's favorite as a pup and as an adult dog. It's a good thing Petsmart continues to sell this exact same toy year after year.

Bella says: "Thank you, Maria... come by anytime if this is how it's going to be!"