Back to Basics

There is happy news and sad news here in Brown Dog Land. The happy news is that everyone is doing great and things are going really well. The sad news is that Addy is doing great in a new home! Last night she left to move in with her dad (my ex) and will be living with him full time now. I was sad to see her go, but when I saw how happy she was to see him walk in the door to pick her up, I knew it was definitely the right decision! She is going to be a happy and spoiled only pup and I know it's going to work out great.

So, over here, it's back to all brown dogs all the time and I get to stop the crate/rotate routine. In the end, I still couldn't be happier.

Doga for Life

Just a note since I think someone requested advance warning, but if you are in the Chicagoland area, Maizy and I will be teaching Doga for free THIS Sunday, October 3rd at the Bark for Life North Shore walk and fundraiser event! We are teaching from 12:30-1:00, so catch us while you can!

If you are interested in knowing about upcoming Doga events, you can sign up for my email updates at www.nicolesopko.com (you will also get information about yoga events, but I send out updates once a month only unless something special comes up so it will not overwhelm your inbox).

Bonus: Picture of Maizy driving home from our big day on Sunday which involved participating in the Chicago PAWS walk and then going to clean out the boyfriend's garage! I thought she looked very cute the way she was sleeping and you can see that we were transporting home her new crate floor!

Crates and Crafts

So, I don't know if any of you have had the same experience, but those plastic crate pans that come with most brands of crate really stink! About two years ago, I replaced Maizy's (for around $60-70) and once again last month, it had broken. It didn't make sense to spend more money on a crate pan, so she was existing without for a few weeks while I figured out what to do. I considered trying to find the right size of metal crate pan or make some kind of metal floor for her, but I soon realized that it wasn't the best solution. Add to the situation that Maizy is a massive chewer and that I was buying her new blankets from the thrift store every few weeks, and I decided that the solution to our crate floor situation had to be dual-purposed.

After some discussion with my brilliant boyfriend, we came up with a plan. And so, this past weekend we cut down a piece of plywood (with the aid of a neighbor who couldn't bear to see me using the manual version, and rushed over with his electric saw in order to do the cut for me quicker than his estimated "three seconds"), dug a scrap of carpet from the depths of the boyfriend's basement, and created a masterpiece!

Tada!

I present to you: Maizy's shiny new carpeted floor. This was a simple and cheap solution (we already had all of the materials laying around) and is working out beautifully so far! And Maizy is very happy with the results as her initial reaction to her new floor was to hunch up into "resource guarding" posture lest one of the other dogs even THINK about relaxing on HER new carpeted board!

This obviously isn't a good solution for a dog that has regular accidents in their crate (Addison!) or who has a sensitive stomach that can lead to barfing (Wrigley!), but this is the perfect solution for all of Maizy's issues. If it isn't, I don't know that yet, but will keep you updated in the following weeks to see if there are any major issues with her carpeted floor.

I've also included one bonus photo, which includes all four pups in their crates with the doors shut and their dinners sitting in front of them waiting VERY patiently to be given the "okay" before diving in. They are such well-beahaved sweetstuffs (sometimes).

Doga! Doga! Doga!

A few months ago, I received an email inviting Maizy and I to come teach Doga at Chicago's 2nd annual Dog Day on the Green event to be held at Montrose Harbor. I was so excited and happily agreed. Well, the event was yesterday and we had a blast! Here are some pictures:

On the way there, Maizy was enjoying our beautiful (and hot!) end-of-summer Chicago weather.

Teaching some Doga to the people and dogs willing to brave the hot sun in front of the stage.

Meeting John Garcia from Best Friends' Dog Town in Utah! We really loved talking to him.

Maizy was being a hilarious priss about using any of the communal dog bowls provided at the event, but it was hot so I knew she was thirsty. So, we stopped by this conveniently-placed drinking fountain which she took right to (with some help from mom).

Belated Happy Two Birthdays!

This past Sunday was Addison's SECOND birthday! Already! She is clearly the baby of the pack, but is such a little spitfire. She drives me nuts all the time, but of course I love her!

Sweet Bean

The universe is certainly mysterious and I'm not sure what I'm being told here, but since losing my full-time job and becoming a single parent, there sure has been a rash of dog injuries around here!

The most recent is a luxating patella (dislocated kneecap) which presented itself a few weeks ago in Mr. Wrigley Beans. At the time, I didn't know what it was and decided to keep an eye on his limp to see if it went away since there was no sense in rushing off to the vet if he was going to walk it off in a few days. However, he didn't get better, and it was time to see the vet!

I can't even tell you what a treat our vet visit was with the addition of one xanax to Wriggles. He had a few barking incidents, but he was the calm, happy dog that I knew he could be! Unfortunately, the vet had bad news for us when she diagnosed his knee issue. Pre-surgical bloodwork was done and we were referred to a specialist for the surgery.

Fortunately for us, the surgeon was willing to do the consult, x-rays, and surgery all in one day, which cut down on the travel, trauma, and overall expense. Wrigley was taken in last Friday, the diagnosis was confirmed (grade 3 luxation), and I left him for surgery. Surgery didn't happen quite as quickly as planned when there were two emergencies that popped up in front of him, but his surgery was completed Friday and I was told he was doing fine.

On Saturday, I called to confirm my ability to pick up Wrigley in the early afternoon only to be met with the information that Wrigley had experienced an adverse reaction to the morphine given during surgery and that he would require an extra day in the hospital. The medication had affected his spinal cord which was causing him trouble with his balance. I was worried, but the doctor assured me that this would have no long-term affects and that I could pick him up Sunday.

Sunday morning I showed up with my crew, paid the bill, and picked up my sweet Wriggles! He experienced a lot of bruising as a result of the surgery, but was looking happy to see us and even barked out the car windows like normal. He was also very swollen, poor guy.

It is only Tuesday now, but he is looking better all the time and the only major challenge that we are having is his intense resistance to getting his temperature taken (which needs to happen twice a day to check for infection). He has started putting his foot down and putting a little weight on it when he is outside int he grass and I know that he will keep getting better! Here is a picture from last night while he enjoyed a treat after cooperating (somewhat) with temperature taking.

So it's so far, so good for us! Please keep Wrigley in your thoughts as he continues to heal and get stronger! I can't wait for him to be able to try out his shiny new knee in a few months!

Hello everyone! Well, last month was a very busy month, so excuse my absence from the blog once again! All is well here with the pups. Maizy's tail is healing up well and Probert, who decided to follow suit with a more minor (non-surgical) tail wound of his own is also healing his tail. I am just not sure what is with those dogs, but the two of them are now referred to as the "tail twins" on most occasions.

Wrigley and Addison are also doing well. My boyfriend recently scored a whole messload of athletic balls from a trash pile and the dogs have been loving the unending supply of basketballs and footballs that appear from the garage every time an old ball is killed. It's adorable. And a cheap source of entertainment for sure!